


Pictures of You

by Mythica



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternative Universe - No Arrow, Alternative Universe - No Island, Bratva Oliver Queen, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-04-12
Packaged: 2018-05-26 08:54:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 39,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6232342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mythica/pseuds/Mythica
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Oliver ever wanted to do was take pictures.  When he became an adult, Oliver made a decision that would change his life forever.  He wanted to be a professional photographer, but he knew he would never be taken seriously as Oliver Queen.  Oliver Queen had a reputation for being a spoiled, entitled playboy.  In order to succeed, he needed to become someone else.  Thus Jonas Danforth was born.  With a haircut and a bit of scruffy facial hair, no one outside of his family suspected he was Oliver Queen.  Then on a fateful trip to Russia his life changed forever.  After five years in service to the Russian Ghost, Oliver finds himself on assignment in Bali where he meets a beautiful blonde woman.  He had no idea his life was about to change yet again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sunsets in Bali

**Author's Note:**

> Trying something new and going with an alternate universe story. Some things are the same. Some are different. This won't be too terribly long, but it should be fun!
> 
> This first chapter is a bit of background, but it's important to the story.

Oliver hadn’t always been a patient man. Sitting on the roof of the building, he just watched as the people came and went from the hotel across the street. This required patience and over the past few years, he had learned how to just sit still. He had to doing what he did.

When he saw the man come out the hotel doors, he sat up and pulled the camera to his face. Holding down the shutter, he took a series of photos as the man got into the back of a black car. There wasn’t much to be done today. This was all surveillance. Pulling the camera down, he watched as the car drove away.

With that, Oliver packed up his gear, making sure to keep out his camera, just for show. There were so many tourists roaming around Denpasar, he would easily fit in. He had to admit, there were much worse places to have to do a mission than Bali. At least here, he could at least try to enjoy himself.

Throwing his bag over one shoulder and his camera strap over the other, he climbed down the stairs and headed out of the building, blending in as much as he could. So far this mission had been simple recon, trying to determine the strength of his security here. They needed much more information before they could take out their target.

Every once in a while, Oliver would stop and snap a picture. He was playing the part, but also found it to be very relaxing. It wasn’t often he was able to take pictures just for fun. No, that had ended five years ago with an ill-fated trip to Russia.

All Oliver ever wanted to do was take pictures. He had traveled the world so much with his parents when he was younger, but his father had always been so busy. His mother had purchased a nice camera for him, just so that Oliver would have something to keep himself busy. He found that not only did he enjoy taking pictures, he was really good at it.

When he became an adult, Oliver made a decision that would change his life forever. He wanted to be a professional photographer, but he knew he would never be taken seriously as Oliver Queen. Oliver Queen had a reputation for being a spoiled, entitled playboy. In order to succeed, he needed to become someone else. Thus Jonas Danforth was born. With a haircut and a bit of scruffy facial hair, no one outside of his family suspected he was Oliver Queen. People focused more on the pictures he took rather than the man himself. It gave him a sense of anonymity that he had never felt before. No one thinks twice about a man with a camera. He could just blend in. It was that anonymity that was his greatest asset and ended up being his greatest curse.

It seemed like just yesterday when he was standing in Moscow, taking pictures of Saint Basil’s Cathedral. He had gone to Russia to take pictures of everyday life. Little did he know that some of his subjects would have connections to the Russia Mafia. After what seemed like such an innocent day, he was shocked to find himself whisked away in a van and taken someplace he’d never forget. Apparently, one of the men he had accidentally taken a picture of was a high ranking member of the Bratva. Colonel Vacili Ivanov was notoriously private, even among the ranks of the Bratva. No one was allowed to see his face except his people and no one was allowed to take his picture.

Oliver was questioned for days on why he was in Russia and who had sent him. They had assumed he was an American spy, sent by the American government to finally get a glimpse of the infamous Russian Ghost. He didn’t know how he survived, but after a week of torture, he came out battered and bruised, but still breathing. It wasn’t until after he had regained his strength that the man who he had accidentally photographed had made him the offer.

Once Colonel Ivanov believed that Oliver was indeed just a photographer, he examined his pictures more closely. He did some research on Jonas Danforth and determined that having someone like that in his ranks would prove to be very useful. He was in need of a good reconnaissance man and Oliver fit the bill nicely. So, Oliver was given a choice: Work for him or be killed. The last thing Oliver wanted to do was get mixed up with the Russian mob, but given the alternative, he agreed. He knew that at some point he would have some opportunity to escape and he tried on numerous occasions, only to be brought back before the colonel for another round of torture. He found out later that the colonel had let it be known that Jonas Danforth was killed in a boating accident on the Black Sea and no body could be recovered. When Oliver had heard that, he knew the colonel would never just let him leave, even if he escaped. He had a contingency for everything. 

Since he was already considered dead, Oliver stopped caring what happened to him. As far as his family was concerned, he was lost to them so why should he continue to work for the Russian. The colonel could see that Oliver didn’t care what happened to himself, so he came up with another tactic.

Aleksei Dorokhov was a family man, with a beautiful wife and adorable little girl. He had gotten in debt to the Bratva when his daughter had gotten sick. They paid for her medical treatments in exchange for his service. Oliver had stayed with Aleksei and his family for a short time while recovering from one of his attempts to escape. It was then that he was told that he was to be the responsibility of Aleksei and if Oliver tried to escape again, his family would be tortured or even killed. Oliver knew he could not risk the lives of others, so he stayed and did what he was told. He was taught to fight and how to use a weapon and became a valuable asset to Colonel Ivanov’s cell. It was his training that saved both his ad Aleksei’s lives when one of their missions went south. That was the first time Oliver had to kill a man, but he did what was necessary to save his friend’s life. After that first time, the next was easier. Over the course of the last five years, they became the team the colonel relied on the most. He started sending them out on more dangerous missions, sometimes involving assassination. It wasn’t long before Oliver and Aleksei rose in the ranks and were awarded the rank of captain.

It was his role in the Bratva that had brought Oliver and his friend to Bali. Their colonel was having problems with a business man in China. Xhe Zheng had been on the Bratva’s payroll for many years, but ever since his own power had grown, he had decided he wanted to get out. Oliver knew first hand that the colonel didn’t just let people leave, so the colonel had decided that it was time to teach the man a lesson. They had learned that Xhe Zheng was coming to Bali for a fundraiser at one of his hotels. They knew that security wouldn’t be as tight on the island as it was in Hong Kong so the decision was made to eliminate him while there. Oliver and Aleksei knew that Bali would make it easier but by no means easy, which is why they were currently sticking to recon, trying to determine the security patterns. If they found one that fit their liking, they would use that information to take out their target. Simple on paper, but not as simple in practice. They had already been there for three days and they had yet to find a chink in the armor.

The sun was going down by the time Oliver made his back to his hotel. As he walked into the lobby, the sunlight streamed in through the windows. Pausing for a moment, he walked out the back of the hotel, towards the beach. A long pier jutted out from the hotel property and into the ocean, giving the ideal place to take some amazing pictures. As he headed to the end of the pier, he pulled out his camera and adjusted some of the settings. Looking out at the ocean, he was amazed at the colors streaming towards him. It was beautiful.

Oliver didn’t know how long he had stood there, but soon the sun was dipping below the waterline. He turned and started heading back towards the hotel when he noticed a woman heading in his direction. She was wearing a brightly colored flowered sundress with sandals on her feet. The ocean breeze blew her dress around her, occasionally giving him a glance of her toned legs. Her blond hair was pulled back in a high ponytail that was twirling in the wind. She pushed her glasses up her nose a little bit as she reached into a large bag that was slung over her shoulder. He knew that if he didn’t move aside, she was going to run right into him so he moved to the side. Looking down at his camera, he replaced the lens cap and kept walking. When he finally looked up, he quickly noticed the woman had changed her direction and he didn’t have time to move out of her way. Stopping, he held up his hands just as the woman bumped into him with an “oof”. Keeping a grip on his camera with one hand, he grabbed onto her arm with the other, catching her before she fell down.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said apologetically, looking up at him with the bluest eyes he had ever seen. “I guess I should watch where I’m going.” When she gave him a nervous smile, he found it really lit up her face. “I was just… looking for my phone and it’s sort of a mess in here. Well, not really a mess, just a lot of stuff you know for beach type things.”

“Beach type things?” he echoed as a smile came across his face.

“Yeah, you know like sunscreen because I burn and turn as red as a lobster. It’s not really that pretty, turning all red and all.” He felt her squirm a little as she scrunched up her face. “And it hurts, but I have plenty of aloe in case… you know… that happens.”

“Ok…” he drew out, trying not to laugh at her ramblings.

“Anyway, I saw all of the colors and I just thought it would be nice to snap a picture, but all I seem to have brought with me is my phone and I can’t seem to find it so… yeah.”

Realizing that he still had her in his arms, Oliver quickly pulled back, making sure she was stable. When his shadow moved from in front of her, the fading light of the sun cast a warm hue over her face, making it seem like she was glowing. He found it hard to look away.

“I guess I missed it though.”

“Hmm?”

“The sunset,” she explained, pointing over his shoulder. “I missed it.”

Looking over his shoulder, he saw that the sun had indeed dropped below the horizon. “Looks like it,” he agreed before turning back to her. 

“Well, I guess there’s always tomorrow,” she said with a smile. “It’s not like the sun is going anywhere. Well, except when it’s setting but it’s not actually moving, we are, but it looks like it is so…” Scrunching up her face and rubbing her hand across her forehead she let out a little grunt. “Sorry. I tend to… babble.”

“So I’ve noticed.” Oliver gave her a small smile causing her to nervously averted her eyes when her cheeks start to flush pink. He didn’t know what it was, but something about her was mesmerizing. “Try coming half an hour earlier tomorrow.”

When he looked at her again, he saw that the smile had returned to her face. “Thanks,” she said gratefully. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”

With a polite nod, Oliver gave her a smile and started to walk past her, back to the hotel. Venturing a glance over his shoulder, he saw that she had continued to the end of the pier and was now just leaning against the railing, letting the breeze blow around her. Picking his camera up, he focused on her and took a few pictures before turning and heading back to the hotel.


	2. What's in a Name?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver sees his mystery woman again and they get to know each other better. She may be more than she appears.

“I do not understand,” Aleksei was saying. “Why is the fundraiser bad? It is being held at his hotel.”

Oliver just shook his head as he looked back at his computer. “There will be too many people there.”

“Ah, but more people means more distractions for the security,” Aleksei countered. “You could get close. It would be like Sarajevo, no?”

Oliver thought back to that mission and cringed. Aleksei was right. That time was similar to this. There was a gala and Oliver had slipped in. He was able to get to his target easily and shove a knife into his back. He was able to leave him sitting, making it look like he was just resting. Getting out was quick and simple.

“This security is tighter,” Oliver explained. “I’m not sure I could get close enough.”

“Then I will be… how you say… plan B?” When he saw Oliver turn to him, he continued. “I will be on rooftop across from hotel. If you cannot get to him, pull the fire alarm and I will see him exit through the side door. I will take him out from there.”

“Can’t you just do that anyway?” Oliver asked. He had been on the building when the fire alarm went off before and had seen the target exit through a different door than the rest of the people in the building. It was a secluded door, away from the main entrance. It was a good location.

“You know that would draw more attention,” Aleksei reminded him. “It is better to use stealth, yes? Draw less attention by the authorities.”

Oliver knew he was right. If they could prevent his security from knowing what happened long enough, they’d both be able to get away clean. “It won’t be easy to get him alone,” Oliver told him as he scanned through the pictures. “He’s always got at least three men around him.”

Aleksei looked over his shoulder at the sequence of photos. “He also has his daughter. Perhaps the extra security is because of her.”

Oliver shrugged as he looked at the pictures. Aleksei was right: His young daughter was also always nearby.

“We need to find out if there is a connection,” Oliver explained. “She shouldn’t be at the fundraiser and since it’s in his hotel, his personal security might be less.”

“I will go to his residence again,” Aleksei informed him as he reached down to pick up his coat. “I will see if it would be any easier there or if there is something that shows more security when he is with his family.”

Oliver nodded as he watched his friend leave his room. Going back to the photos, Oliver scanned through them, looking for any gap they could exploit. He felt like he had been there too long. Most of their jobs too two, maybe three days. This was going on day five and he was getting antsy. 

As he swiped through the pictures, he took some notes on possible alternate locations for the hit. If he could just find one that was a better choice, they could get out of there sooner. Aleksei had told him that their target was taking his daughter site seeing the next day. He would go as well, just to see if he could find any chink in his security. If there was any time he could get him away from his daughter, he might just be able to end it with a nice clean stab to the heart. That would be ideal.

When he swiped back to the previous day, he stopped and just looked at the computer. The picture of the woman he had met the previous night was displayed in front of him. The photo was beautiful, but it didn’t do her justice. Using the mouse, he zoomed in on her face as he allowed himself a small smile. What was it about her that he found so enticing?

Looking out the window, he saw that the sun was going down. He didn’t have anything to do for the rest of the night. Getting up from the desk, he looked down at the beach and towards the pier he had stood on the previous night. A smile came across his face when he saw a familiar form standing there. She looked different though. Her hair wasn’t pulled back and the casual clothes from the previous day were gone in favor of a nice dress and shoes that really showed off her legs. Moving from the window, Oliver quickly went to his suitcase and pulled out some nicer clothes. Maybe the evening wouldn’t be as bad as he had thought.

>>>\-------->

Felicity couldn’t believe she was actually doing this. Standing on the pier, she looked out to the ocean and took a deep breath. Was she crazy? She didn’t even know his name, but she had been looking forward to seeing him again all day. He didn’t say he was going to show up again, but she could hope. Shaking her head, she leaned onto the railing and looked down into the water. Why was she hoping?

“This is crazy,” she muttered as she looked back out at the sunset. She had spent a good part of the late afternoon getting ready. Gone was the simple sundress and sandals, replaced with the nicest dress she had brought with her and some strappy heels. The large beach bag was replaced with a simple purse that she absentmindedly pushed back onto her shoulder. She was dressed to impress the man she didn’t even know, but for some reason, she wanted to impress him.

Felicity had been with Ray for two years and never had her heart pounded like it did the previous night. The way he looked at her was something she had never seen before. His blue eyes seemed to look right into her heart. Just thinking about him now made her pulse quicken. She knew it had to be just the excitement of meeting someone like him on an Indonesian island, surrounded by crystal clear waters and amazing sunsets. She knew she would be leaving in a couple of days and it wasn’t like she was going to have a lot of free time anyway, but she just really wanted to see him again. Her break-up from Ray was still a fresh wound, but just thinking about this mysterious man made her forget all of that pain. She had come to Bali partially to help her get over him. What better way than to find someone else, if even just for a little while.

Leaning out onto the railing, she sighed as she watched the sun go down. He was right. Half an hour was all she needed to see the most brilliant colors. She had never seen anything like it, but she had hoped she wouldn’t be seeing it alone. Letting out a sigh, she rested her chin on her hand as she leaned her elbow on the railing. She knew she shouldn’t have gotten her hopes up, but with the way he was looking at her, how could she not?

“Is it everything you hoped for?”

Felicity felt her heart jump when she heard his voice. Turning around, she saw her mystery man walking up to her with a smile on his face and his hands in his pockets. Smiling brightly, she turned to him and leaned her back against the railing as she tried to keep her heart from beating out of her chest. Apparently he had also dressed for the occasion, wearing tan dress slacks and a lightly colored dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, showing off his muscular and tanned arms.

“It is indeed,” she agreed, not knowing if she meant the sunset or the man in front of her.

“It’s the salt particles in the air,” he explained, pointing out to the sunset as he leaned onto the railing. As she looked out across the ocean, he continued to explain. “That in combination with the lower angle of the sunlight coming through the atmosphere causes the different colors.”

“Really?” she asked, knowing full well what caused the different colors at sunset, but indulging him in his explanation. “You seem to know a lot about it.”

“I sort of have to,” he explained. On seeing her confused expression, he clarified. “I’m a photographer. It’s my job to understand lighting and color.”

“Sounds fascinating,” she said enthusiastically. “I’d love to see some of your work.”

Her mystery man smiled as he looked down to the water. “Unfortunately I don’t have my portfolio with me.”

“Or your camera,” Felicity noted. “Just came to admire the view today?”

Giving her a brilliant smile, he turned back to her. “Something like that.”

Felicity nervously averted her eyes as she looked back out into the ocean. She knew she should probably be more cautious, standing near someone she knew nothing about, but for some reason, her gut told her she could trust him.

“I was just heading to get some dinner,” he told her, causing her to look over at him. “Would you like to join me?”

“Dinner?” she asked, laughing a little as she was caught a bit off guard. “I don’t even know your name.”

She saw him pause a moment, wondering if she had said something wrong, but then he smiled and offered her his hand.

“Oliver.”

Felicity smiled as she looked into his blue eyes. “I’m Felicity,” she replied, reaching out to take his hand.

“Well… Felicity… would you like to have dinner with me?” he asked as he gently rubbed her hand with his thumb.

Felicity just about melted when she heard him say her name. There was just something about how he said it that made her go weak in the knees.

“I’d like that very much, Oliver,” she told him, unable to get the smile off of her face.

Pulling on her hand, he gently wrapped her arm around his, eliciting a giggle from Felicity. Oliver gave her a small smile before he began to lead her down the pier, back to the hotel restaurant. Felicity couldn’t believe she was actually doing this. She had just met him last night and now she was going to dinner with him. It was so not like her to be so spontaneous. Spontaneity wasn’t something that usually worked with her, but as she looked over at the man walking next to her, she couldn’t help but smile. Maybe being spontaneous wasn’t such a bad thing.

>>>\-------->

The hotel had quite an impressive restaurant. Felicity had already eaten there on several occasions, but this dinner was much more enjoyable than the previous. For one thing, she had an amazing dinner companion who gave her his undivided attention. The conversation flowed easily between them as their dinner was served and consumed. Felicity felt like she was monopolizing the conversation, but Oliver didn’t seem to mind. That just made her even more nervous. It wasn’t very often she found someone who could handler her rambles.

Throughout the dinner Oliver felt more at ease than he had in years. For so long, every new person he had met had been either a threat or a target, but Felicity was different. She was just a… person. A real person that he was lucky enough to be sitting across from, having a pleasant meal. She made him feel like something more than a killer and he hadn’t felt that way in such a long time. That was why on the pier he had given her his real name. He wanted to be Oliver Queen tonight, not Jonas Danforth.

“So, how did you get into photography?” Felicity asked, once their dinner plates had been cleared away.

“It just started out as a hobby,” he explained. “My family traveled a lot and my father was always working. I wanted to find something to do that could keep me busy. One day my mother bought me a camera and I just started… taking pictures. I had a few people tell me that they thought they were really good so I thought I’d try to do it professionally.”

“And you were successful?” she asked, feeling a bit guilty about not knowing any photographer by the name of Oliver.

“Not at first,” he explained. “I had some… family issues I had to deal with first. Once those got out of the way, things started to pick up. I haven’t been able to do much lately though. I’ve been away from home for a long time.”

“I never seem to leave home,” Felicity offered as she took a sip of her water. “I’m just always so busy with work.”

“So, what do you do?” Oliver asked, leaning back in his chair.

“Oh, nothing as glamorous as photography,” she teased. “I work with computers. You know, preventing hackers, writing code, stuff like that. I’m basically sitting at my desk staring at a computer screen all day, making sure my boss doesn’t do something to make my life more difficult.”

“Does he do that often?” he asked, smiling a teasing smile.

“Well, he doesn’t think so, but basically everything he does makes my life more difficult, so… yeah. All the time. I feel like I’m always cleaning up his mess so the entire department doesn’t suffer. The last thing they need is for the IT department at QC to blow up.”

Oliver had just picked up his glass to take a drink of water when she mentioned QC. He felt some of the liquid go down the wrong way as he choked slightly. Felicity looked at him in concern as he coughed and put down his glass. “I’m sorry. Did you say QC?”

“Yes,” Felicity replied, looking at him strangely. “I work for Queen Consolidated. Why?”

“Nothing,” he replied, still trying to clear his throat. “It was just… unexpected.”

“Oh.” It didn’t seem like much of an answer to Felicity, but she let it go. She wanted to get to know more about the man sitting with her. “So, why have you been gone from home for so long? Business?”

“I guess you could say that,” Oliver replied, wondering just how much he could tell her about his life. For some reason, he wanted to tell her everything, but he knew he shouldn’t. Once he and Aleksei had completed their mission, they would go back to Russia and he would never see her again. For once in his life, he found that it really bothered him.

Felicity could see that he really didn’t want to talk about himself, which was unfortunate for her. She felt like she had told him her whole life story, but with him, she’d barely scratched the surface.

“You know, I don’t even know your last name,” Felicity observed.

Oliver smiled as he looked over at her. “I don’t know yours either.”

“It’s Smoak,” she replied, giving him a smile. “Felicity Smoak. But not like smoke and fire. S-m-o-a-k. And you?”

Oliver hesitated as he looked into her eyes. If he told her who he was, she could go back and tell his family he was alive. Maybe then they could find a way for him to come home without endangering Aleksei's family. He hadn’t even thought about the possibility of going home for years and now this amazing woman sitting across from him might just be his angel of mercy.

Oliver was about to tell her when his phone went off. Letting out a groan, he pulled it out of his pocket and frowned.

“Something wrong?” Felicity asked as she looked to the phone in his hand.

Letting out a sigh, he looked up at her and put the phone away. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”

“Oh.” Felicity sat up and reached for her bag with a slight laugh. “I really should get back too.”

“Is someone expecting you?” he asked, suddenly a little concerned. He hadn’t thought about the possibility of her being in Bali with someone.

“Just a work colleague,” she explained. “I told him I’d meet him…” Felicity looked at the time on her phone and sighed. “… 15 minutes ago.”

“I didn't realize that QC had business in Bali,” he mentioned as he walked over to pull her chair out for her. As she stood, she noticed how close they were standing to each other. She smiled nervously as she fidgeted with the purse in her hand. 

“It's not for QC,” she explained as he once again offered her his arm. “I also do some consulting on the side. I'm here with them.”

Nodding slightly, Oliver gently led her out of the restaurant, stopping when they reached the elevators.

“I had a really nice time tonight,” he told her as he received a confused look from Felicity.

“You aren’t coming up?” she asked, causing Oliver’s eyes to open wide. When she realized what it sounded like, she cringed. “I meant… to your room. I go to mine and you go to yours. Separately.”

Oliver smiled as he released her arm and stood in front of her. “I have to meet someone away from the hotel,” he explained. “Otherwise, I would have loved to go up with you.”

“Oh.” Felicity found herself at a loss for words as the elevator doors opened. She looked over her shoulder and indicated to the door as she slowly started to back away. “I guess that’s my cue.”

Felicity knew she should just turn and head into the elevator, but his gaze kept her locked to him. Without really thinking about it, she walked back over to him and leaned up, placing a soft kiss on his lips. When he felt her lips touch his, he reached down and cupped her face with both hands as he took a deep breath. He felt her hands on his wrists as he pressed his lips harder into hers, causing a whimper to come from Felicity. The ding of the elevator caught her attention as she quickly pulled away and reached for the door, catching it before it closed. When she turned back around, he saw her face was slightly flushed. After pressing the button for her floor, she looked back out at him and smiled, giving him a small wave.

Much to his surprise, he found himself waving back with the same smile on his face. When the elevator doors finished closing, he just stood there, feeling stunned. When his phone pinged him again, he pulled it out and let out a sigh. Aleksei really needed to work on his timing.

>>>\-------->

Felicity let out a sigh as she leaned against the back of the elevator. She couldn’t believe she actually kissed him. It wasn’t like her at all to be so spontaneous and she definitely wasn’t the type of girl to kiss first. A small giggle came from her as she remembered the feel of his lips on hers. They were so soft. She couldn’t remember when she had had such a nice kiss and it wasn't even that big!

She was brought out of her musings when the elevator dinged and the doors opened to her floor. She couldn’t get the smile off of her face as she walked to her room. Pulling out her keycard, she opened her door as the smile left her face.

“Where have you been?”

Felicity just rolled her eyes as she closed the door behind her. “I went to dinner,” she told him as she walked over to put down her purse. “And why are you in my room?”

“I thought something had happened to you,” he explained, crossing his arms in front of him.

“Like what?” Felicity asked, sitting down on her bed. “We’re in Bali. What on Earth could happen to me here?”

“Felicity, do you remember why we are here?”

Felicity fell back onto her bed with a sigh. “Yes.”

“We’re not on vacation.”

“No, you’re not on vacation,” she corrected as she quickly sat up. “I’m definitely taking some time to vacation. Wait, is that a verb? Do I say vacation?”

“Felicity…”

Felicity rolled her eyes as she flopped back down on the bed. “Why can’t I have any fun while I’m here?”

“Felicity, you aren’t here to have fun,” he reminded her. “You’re here…”

“… to hack into Xhe Zheng’s computer system and upload the software you need to get into his system remotely,” she completed. “Yes, I know. But do you also remember I’m not an ARGUS agent? I’m only a consultant who is doing way more than just consulting, I might add.”

Felicity felt the bed move as she looked over to see him sitting next to her. “I know,” he said sadly. “And I’m sorry you got pulled into this, but you know you’re the only one who can do it.”

“Which is why you need to remember that I want to enjoy myself while I’m here,” she told him, sitting up so she could look at him. “Everyone at work thinks I won this trip to Bali. They’re going to expect stories when I get back. Pictures even!”

She could see she was getting through to him when his face softened. She knew he didn’t want to be there either, but John Diggle was the only person Felicity trusted in all of ARGUS to keep her safe. He had been the one to bring her in, after finding out she had hacked into ARGUS’s secure system. He had been the one to convince them that she would be more of an asset out of prison. She basically owed him her life.

“Look, we have to make sure we’re ready,” John reminded her. “Did you finish the program yet?”

Felicity let out a sigh as she ran her hand across her face. “Almost. It’s taking forever to compile.”

“I’ll make you a deal,” he said, standing up and reaching his hand out to her. “You get the program finished before the gala and you can do some site seeing.”

Felicity groaned at the reminder of the upcoming gala. Xhe Zheng’s fundraiser at his hotel was the only opportunity they would have to get into his server room to access his secure system. She didn't like the idea of having to get all dressed up to hack into a computer, but she knew it had to be done. She knew the gala was the day after tomorrow and that should be more than enough time to get her program done. Reaching up, she took his hand and let him pull her up as a smile came across her face.

“Deal.”


	3. Sight Seeing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver goes on recon at a tourist spot and finds someone familiar doing some sight seeing.

Oliver focused the camera and pressed the shutter, taking a picture of Xhe Zheng and his daughter. It was easy at this particular place. Tanah Lot was frequented by tourists. Oliver could do his recon without any attention being drawn. 

He had to admit, being at such a beautiful place made it difficult to stay on task. He frequently found himself taking pictures that did not include his target or his security force. The latent photographer took over.

Oliver smiled as he watched Xhe Zheng’s daughter play. She couldn't be much older than 12 and reminded him so much of his little sister, always frolicking around, just being a little girl. It was times like this that he missed his family, but he knew it was pointless to think about them. He had to think of keeping another little girl safe, that in the form of Aleksei’s daughter.

When he saw their party move back to the road, Oliver knew their time at the site was over. With a few more pictures in that general direction, Oliver brought his camera down and watched the limo drive away. Aleksei would resume the recon at the residence when they returned. It was still early, so Oliver turned and headed back down to the temple. Just a few more minutes couldn’t hurt.

Standing on the shore, Oliver pointed his camera at the temple and took a picture. This particular temple was quite spectacular since it was right out in the ocean. Access to it was only available at low tide so the time he could spend there was limited. As he started down the path leading to the trail to the temple, he paused when he saw a familiar face. She looked different today, with her simple white tank top and jeans, but it was no mistaking that it was Felicity. She had her own camera up, taking pictures for herself. Raising his camera again, he focused on her and smiled. Every time he saw her she seemed to be smiling in such a carefree fashion. Pressing the shutter, he took a picture before pulling the camera down. Picking up his pace, he made his way down to her just as she started heading out to the temple. When he was close enough, he tapped her on the shoulder and said, “Hey.”

Felicity jumped at the contact and turned to see Oliver smiling at her. When she realized who it was, a smile came over her face as she let out a sigh.

“Sneaking up on people is not nice!” she scolded, trying to sound upset, but not succeeding because of the smile she had.

“Sorry,” he apologized without much sincerity.

Felicity couldn't stop smiling as he playfully bumped his shoulder into hers and started walking with her. She had thought he looked good in his nice clothes from last night, but seeing him walking beside her in his tan pants and blue wool pullover, she had to force herself to keep her hands to herself.

“Trying to get more pictures?” he asked as they made their way to the stairs leading up to the temple.

Felicity smiled as she looked at the camera in his hand. “I could ask you the same question.”

“Well, I am a photographer,” he reminded her.

“So you said,” she said with a flirty smile. “It’s interesting though because when I got back to my room last night, I did a bit of searching and I couldn’t find any photographer named ‘Oliver’. Maybe you aren’t as good as you thought.”

Oliver smiled sheepishly as they began to walk to the top of the stairs. The view of the ocean was amazing from up there.

“I never said I used my real name in my profession,” he explained as he picked up his camera and took a few shots. When he looked over at Felicity, she had a surprised look on her face.

“Why wouldn’t you use your real name?” she asked.

Oliver smiled as he leaned closer to her. “Maybe I wanted to hide who I was.”

Felicity scrunched her eyes at him as he winked and walked away. Quickly turning to follow him, she asked, “Ok, so what is your professional name?”

“Why are you so curious about it?” he asked, turning to her as he walked backwards.

“I don’t like mysteries,” she explained, “and you’re one of the biggest mysteries I’ve come across in a long time.”

Oliver laughed a little as he turned to walk forwards again. She had no idea. 

When Felicity saw he wasn’t going to say anything without prompting, she prodded him again. “So?”

Oliver turned and stopped suddenly, causing Felicity to run into his chest. Reaching out to grab her arms, he steadied her as her hands fell to his chest. 

“Sorry,” she apologized as a bashful smile came across her face. “I keep doing that.”

“I don't mind.”

Felicity's face lit up as she looked up at him. She could feel his hands rubbing her arms as they slid down to her hands. When he leaned down to her, her heart started beating faster as she looked at his lips. She'd been wanting to kiss him ever since she saw him again. She felt her breath catch in her throat as he got closer, but when he leaned down to her ear, she slowly let it out.

“Jonas Danforth,” he whispered.

“What?” Felicity couldn't even focus with him so close to her. When he pulled back and smiled, she tried to regain her composure.

“That's my professional name,” he completed.

“Oh.” Felicity shook her head a little to try to get her focus back. “Why did you whisper it? Is it some big secret?”

“Kind of,” he revealed as he turned and started walking, keeping one of his hands in hers.

Felicity scrunched up her face in confusion. “Why would your professional name be a secret?”

“It's like I said before,” he reminded her. “I've been gone for a while.”

“And you don't want anyone to know where you are?” she surmised. When he looked down at her, he gave her a smile.

“Something like that.”

“So why tell me?”

Oliver smiled as he squeezed her hand. “You were very insistent.”

That didn't seem like a very good explanation to Felicity, but she knew that was all she was going to get. As they walked around the temple, she found herself leaning into him more, sometimes leaning her head against his arm as they walked. She felt so comfortable with him even though she knew he was still keeping things from her. When they reached the end of their walkway, she let out a sigh as she looked out into the ocean.

“It's so beautiful here,” she said as she pulled away from him and picked up her camera to take a picture. Oliver just laughed a little when he realized her camera was just her phone.

“Didn't you bring an actual camera when you came to Bali?” he asked as he raised his own camera to take a picture.

“What do you mean?” she asked, looking at him offended. “This is an actual camera.”

Oliver pulled his face from his camera to look at her in shock. “That's not a real camera. It's a phone.”

“And it takes great pictures,” she told him as she pointed it at him and pressed the screen. Looking at the picture with a smile, she turned it to face him and showed him the shot she had taken. “See?”

Oliver just laughed as he turned back to his own shot.

Felicity let out a playful huff as she adjusted the phone to use the front facing camera. “Can your camera do this?” she asked, as she leaned up against him and smiled at the camera. When she saw him look her way, she quickly snapped the picture when she saw him smile. Turning to look up at him with a smile, she said, “Gotta take a selfie at least once.”

“A selfie,” he teased as he brought his camera down. “That's your requirement for your phone to be a real camera? The ability to take a selfie?”

“No,” she countered. “But it is a nice feature.”

Oliver just rolled his eyes as he turned away from the view and took her hand again, walking back towards the main temple. They spent the next hour just walking, talking, and taking pictures. Oliver couldn't remember when he had been so comfortable talking to someone. As the tide started to come in, the tourist started making their way down the stairs and back over to the shore. He knew his time with her at the temple was coming to a close, but he found that he didn't want his time with her to end.

“I was going to head over to the Uluwatu Temple,” he revealed, looking down at her curiously. “It should be spectacular at sunset.”

Felicity looked up at him and smiled, gripping his hand tightly. “Sounds wonderful.”

Oliver nodded as he turned to focus on the stairs in front of him. “It would be better if you came with me.”

When he turned back to her, he saw the biggest smile he'd seen on her. “I'd like that.”

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, the water had already started coming up on their path to dry land. Seeing Felicity's hesitation, Oliver handed his camera to her and then reached down and picked her up, cradling her legs in one arm and her back in the other. Felicity wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on tightly as he skillfully carried her across, not putting her down until they were above the waterline. As he set her back down on her feet, she slid her hands down to his shoulders as his hands stayed around her waist. When the ocean breeze blew some of her hair in her face, he reached up and pushed it back, letting his fingers linger on her cheek. Touching her made him remember the night before when she had kissed him. Looking at her lips, all he wanted to do was to know that feeling again. When she pulled her lower lip in and caught it between her teeth, he let his thumb slide down to free it, rubbing across her lip lightly.

This time it was Oliver who closed the distance between them as he brought his lips down to replace his thumb. When she reached up her arms to encircle his neck, he brought his hands down to her waist and pulled her close, holding her body to his as he increased the pressure of their kiss. He let out a soft groan when he felt her hand scratch the back of his head. Wrapping his arms around her back, he held her close as his tongue slid along her lower lip. When she felt the movement, she opened her mouth, allowing him access as their tongues met in the middle. When they finally pulled back, they were both breathing heavily to try to catch their breath.

“I guess we should go,” she said softly as he leaned down to touch his forehead to hers.

“Yeah.” Placing one more small kiss on her lips, Oliver took her hand and led her to where his rental car was parked. As he opened the car door for her, she gave him a smile that made his heart skip. Closing the door, he walked over to his side of the car, taking a deep breath to try to calm himself. Running his hands across his head, he shook it slightly, knowing what he was doing wasn't a good idea. He had prep work do to for the mission and Aleksei was expecting him to report back with what he had learned. As he climbed into the car, he settled in his chair and looked over at her as she put on her seatbelt. All thoughts of the mission left his mind as he turned the car on and pulled out of the parking lot. His only thoughts were of her.

>>>\-------->

Felicity couldn’t control her laughter as she climbed out of the car. They had just spent an amazing day together and it was already late when they got back to the hotel. As Oliver got out, he had a smile on his face as well as he closed and locked the car.

“I can’t believe you did that,” she was saying as he walked up and wrapped his arm around her.

“You’d be amazed what you’d be willing to do to get the perfect shot,” he continued as they walked into the hotel arm-in-arm.

“You sound more like a paparazzi than a serious photographer.”

Oliver stopped, causing her to stop and looked up at him. He had a pained look on his face as he looked down at her. “I resent that accusation.”

Felicity couldn’t hold in her laughter as she held her arm on her stomach. Oliver joined in her laughter as he started walking again. “Hey, I have firsthand experience with paparazzi,” he explained. “I’m nothing like them.”

“Oh, you do, do you?” she teased as they walked into the open elevator. “Why would you have experience with paparazzi? Does it have something to do with the elusive last name that you still haven’t given me?”

“Maybe,” he said cryptically as he pressed the button for his floor and then turned back to Felicity, putting his hands on her hips and pulling her close.

“Don't I need to go to my floor?” she asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“That depends,” he replied, leaning down to kiss her neck. “Do you want to see some of my pictures or not? I have a reputation to uphold, you know.”

“And how do I know that you took them?” she teased. “You could have just stolen them from Google or something.”

“Don’t you trust me?” he asked as stood up and looked into her eyes.

Felicity looked up at him and found herself getting lost in his blue eyes. As a smile came across her face, she tightened her grip around his neck. “Yes, I trust you.”

On hearing her words, Oliver leaned down and captured her lips in a fiery kiss. Sliding his hands up her back, he pulled her to him as he pushed her back against the wall of the elevator. His hands slid down her back, stopping at the small of her back as he pulled her closer. The sound of the elevator door opening made him pull away from her as he looked down at her swollen lips. Grabbing her hand, he quickly pulled her out of the elevator as she let out a little squeak of surprise. He directed them to his room as he pulled out his keycard and opened the door. They were laughing when they entered the room, but the laughter died down quickly when Oliver saw Aleksei standing there, looking upset. Instinctively, Oliver pushed Felicity behind his back to protect her from any potential threat. Leaning around him, Felicity looked to see the other man just looking at them in shock.

“Где ты был? (Where have you been?)” Aleksei asked, looking around him and frowning at Felicity.

“Я получил информацию, что нам нужно (I got the information we needed),” Oliver replied as Felicity looked at him in surprise. She didn't know he could speak Russian. “Что вы будете делать после того, что не твое дело (What I do after that is none of your concern).”

“Это ставит под угрозу, если это задание (It is if it jeopardizes the mission),” Aleksei replied before picking up his bag and walking towards them. Oliver kept Felicity behind him as Aleksei walked past, heading toward the door. “Я вернусь утром (I will be back in the morning).”

With one more glare to Felicity, Aleksei walked out the door. It wasn't until the door was fully closed that Oliver relaxed his hold on her.

“What was that?” Felicity asked, surprise in her voice.

“Nothing,” Oliver answered, going over to the desk and opening the laptop.

“It didn't sound like nothing,” Felicity observed. “What language was that?”

“Russian.”

“Russian,” she echoed as she looked back to the door. “And who was-”

Letting out a sigh of frustration, Oliver turn to her and interrupted loudly, “Felicity, please drop it.”

Felicity jumped a little when he raised his voice. “Maybe... I should just... go,” she said quietly as she slowly started to inch her way to the door. She was beginning to wonder if she had been right to trust him.

As she grabbed the door handle, Oliver got up and looked at her apologetically. “Wait... please.” Felicity stopped and looked up at him, not sure which version of Oliver she was about to get. “I'm sorry,” he said softly, not moving towards her for fear of scaring her away. “I wasn't expecting Aleksei to be here.”

“That was Aleksei?” she asked, still keeping her hand on the door.

“Yes,” he acknowledged. “He's a... business associate.”

“So, you're here on... business too?” she asked as she slowly removed her hand from the handle.

“Yes.”

Felicity crossed her arms in front of her in a protective stance as she took a step forward. “I thought you said you were a photographer,” Felicity recalled. “Why would he get so mad if you're just here taking pictures?” When she saw his confused expression, she explained, “I may not understand Russian, but I can tell from his tone he wasn't happy. Plus, with the way he was looking at me...”

“He's just concerned that I'm not focusing on why we're here,” he explained. “He thinks that you are a... distraction.”

“From taking pictures?” she asked, not believing that photography could be so... intense.

Oliver hesitated, trying to think of something to convince her it was safe to stay. “We've been traveling for a while,” Oliver explained. “He... misses his family and wants to get home to them as quickly as possible. He thinks if you distract me, we'll be delayed.”

“Well, maybe I should just go then,” Felicity admitted with compassion. “I don't want him to miss out on a reunion with his family.”

“Felicity, we can't leave until after tomorrow anyway,” he told her quickly, taking a cautious step towards her. “It's fine. Really.” He could see her hesitation melting away so he walked up to her and held out his hand. “Do you want to see the pictures?”

Felicity smiled with a nod as she reached up to take his hand. Oliver led her over to a chair sitting in front of the desk. Turning the laptop away from her, he made sure that nothing of his mission was visible before he was able to turn the device to her.

“If you tell me that paparazzi take pictures like these, I’m going to be very disappointed.”

Felicity laughed a little before turning to the laptop. He had setup a slideshow of his photos that she could control. Her eyes opened wide as he started looking through the pictures. They were beautiful.

“Oliver… these are incredible.” She stopped on a black-and-white photo of a young girl, happily playing on a swing-set. “You have such a good eye.”

Looking over her shoulder, Oliver saw which picture she was looking at and laughed. “She was really funny,” Oliver explained as he knelt down next to her. “She wouldn’t stop giggling. I couldn’t understand a word she was saying, but I have a feeling she was making fun of me.”

“Where were you?”

Oliver hesitated slightly before telling her the truth. “Russia.”

“But you speak Russian,” Felicity reminded him as she looked at him in confusion.

“That was taken before I learned,” he explained.

Felicity nodded as she went back to the computer and continued to click through the pictures. “You’ve been to so many places,” she observed. “It must be amazing to be able to travel like that.”

“At first it was,” he admitted, “but after a while, you begin to miss home.”

“How long have you been away?” she asked as she moved to another picture.

“Five years.” Felicity paused as she looked over at him in surprise. “It’s complicated.”

“Does it have something to do with learning to speak Russian?” she asked tentatively.

Oliver looked at her as she continued to look through the photos. She was much more observant than he had realized. “Yes.”

She knew that he wasn't going to elaborate so she just continued to look through the photos, commenting occasionally when she saw something of interest. She stopped when she got to a picture that she actually recognized.

“Was this from the night we met?” she asked, staring at the photo of the sunset taken at the end of the pier.

“Yes,” he told her as he looked at the photo. “I’d never seen so many colors.”

“It’s beautiful,” she sighed.

Oliver looked over at her as he felt his chest tighten up. “So is the next one.”

Oliver stared at her as she looked at him with a smile on her face. Reaching over her, he clicked the mouse so the next picture appeared. When she looked back to the computer, her smile faded slightly as she looked at a picture of herself.

“I think that’s my favorite,” he told her, causing her to look at him. 

“When did you take this?” she asked, feeling her voice catch in her throat.

“When I was leaving that first night,” he admitted. “I couldn’t help it. I just have to take pictures of things that are beautiful.”

Felicity found herself getting lost in his blue eyes, so when he leaned in to kiss her, she let out a soft sigh. Reaching over to him, she wrapped her arms around his neck as she felt his arms snake around her waist. Before she knew what was happening, he stood up, picking her up with him. As he set her down on her feet, she traced his lower lip with her tongue as he let out a groan, opening his mouth slightly as she slipped her tongue inside. Oliver pulled her tight against him, trying to make sure there was no room between them as his hands slid up her back. His kisses made their way along her jawbone down to her neck as she slid her hands down to his chest. When she let out moan, he groaned against her neck, kissing her as he moved along her sensitive skin. Felicity brought her hands down, finding the bottom of his pullover as she slid her hand underneath his shirt, touching his warm skin. When he felt her hands against his skin, he let pulled back, breathing heavily as he leaned his forehead against hers.

“Felicity...”

“Shhh,” she said softly as she pushed her hands farther up his back. She knew it was crazy. She would probably never see him again after she left Bali, but she wanted this one night if it was all they were going to have. She wanted him.

Felicity could see the conflict on his face as he closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing. Her touch on his skin was having the opposite effect of what his mind said he should be doing and his mind was slowly losing its control. He shouldn’t be getting involved. Aleksei was right. She was a distraction, but looking into her eyes, he could see how much she wanted this. He wanted it too, so much so it hurt. He knew it wouldn't take much for him to just give in.

“Please, Oliver...”

Hearing her beg was more than Oliver could take as he leaned down and captured her lips in a passionate kiss. His hands found their way to the hem of her tank top and pulled it over her head, forcing her hands out from under his shirt. They broke contact only long enough for the tank top to clear her hair and his pullover and shirt to be pulled off of his body. When he attacked her mouth again, he wrapped his arms around her waist, this time reaching down with one hand to grip her behind her thigh. Picking her up, he carried her over to the bed before laying her down gently. He broke contact with her lips one more time as he looked down at her, seeing the desire in her eyes. They may only get one night, but it would be a night they would both remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't remember much from my two years of Russian in college. Way too many years ago. So, thank you Google Translate for the Russian translations!


	4. Surprise Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night of the fundraising gala, more questions come to the surface.

Felicity couldn't remember a time when she'd felt so safe. Lying in Oliver's arms, she felt such warmth and strength. She never wanted to leave his embrace. As she laid on his shoulder, she looked down at his bare chest and sighed. When he had first taken off his shirt, she hadn’t noticed the number of scars that marked is chest. Now that she was lying so close, she couldn’t help but wonder how he had gotten them. She couldn’t believe anyone could survive such pain.

She looked up at him with a smile as he slept. He looked so peaceful, like he didn’t have a care in the world. Putting her head back down on his shoulder, she lazily traced some of the scars marring his chest. When she touched one near his side, he jerked slightly as he took in a sharp breath. Looking up at him, she saw that his eyes stayed closed as his hand came to hers to stop its movements.

“Tickles…”

“Sorry.” Felicity let out a little giggle as she pressed her hand more firmly onto his chest.

Slowly, Oliver opened his eyes and looked down at Felicity with a smile.

“Good morning,” she said brightly as he turned to look at the sliver of sunlight coming in from between the curtains.

“It’s morning?” he asked sleepily. “I slept?”

“Mmm hmm,” she replied, squeezing him a little tighter. “Is that unusual?”

“Actually, yeah,” he told her. Oliver closed his eyes, trying to hold back the images that usually welcomed him in the morning. It was a rare night when Oliver slept more than a couple of hours and even more rare when he didn’t have a nightmare. Based on how Felicity was snuggled up against him, he can only assume he had slept peacefully and he hadn’t done that in years.

“Well, I guess you were just worn out,” she teased, bringing her hand up to rub against his chest.

“And whose fault is that?” he asked, bringing his hand up to caress her cheek.

“Are you complaining?”

“Absolutely not.” Bringing his hand to her chin, he gently lifted her head so he could place a soft kiss on her lips. Felicity caressed his face softly until his head fell back onto the pillow and he let out a deep breath. It felt good to have a good night’s sleep, especially with Felicity next to him.

The sound of a phone going off got both of their attention as Felicity let out an exasperated sigh. Throwing the covers off of her, she quickly got up and ran over to her purse and pulled out the offending device.

“Hello.” Looking back at Oliver, she felt a bit self-conscious as he looked over her naked body. She could feel the blood flowing to her face as her cheeks turned pink. Turning away from him, she quickly went into the bathroom and closed the door.

“Where are you?” John asked loudly, causing her to pull the phone from her ear.

“I’m… in the hotel,” she explained. “I um… went to get breakfast.”

“Breakfast.”

She could tell that John didn’t believe her, but what else was she going to say? That she spent an amazing night in the hotel room of a guy she just met? That sounded crazy even to her and she lived it.

“Yea… at the restaurant.”

“Ok,” John stated. “I guess I’ll just join you then.”

“No!” Felicity slapped herself on the forehead as she squeezed her eyes closed. “I mean, I was getting breakfast. Now I’m taking a walk.”

“Felicity…”

“John, there’s nothing to do until tonight, right?”

She could hear him sigh on the other side of the phone. “Yes.”

“And we’re ready so… relax. I’m fine. Everything’s fine.”

The extended pause made Felicity just a bit nervous, but when he spoke again, she relaxed a little. “Just… be careful, ok?”

Felicity smiled as she did a little fist pump. “I will. I’ll see you later, ok?”

“Ok.”

With that Felicity ended the call and slumped down on the toilet. She really needed to stop doing field work.

>>>\-------->

Oliver was surprised when Felicity jumped up so quickly to get her phone. Then when she went into the bathroom, his imagination started running away with him. Who was she talking to? Why did she have to go into the bathroom to talk to them? He knew she was in Bali on business, but would that constitute a need for that much privacy?

The reconnaissance man in him took over as he threw back the covers and got up, quietly heading to the bathroom door. He could hear her talking to someone, trying to explain where she was. It seemed strange to him that a work colleague would be concerned with her whereabouts. She's a grown woman. Why does she have to check in with anyone? Then he remembered Aleksei's line of questioning the previous night and he got a little apprehensive. How much did he know about Felicity and what she was doing in Bali? Of course, how much did she know about him? 

When he heard her end her call, Oliver went back to the bed before Felicity opened the bathroom door. Leaning up on one arm, he looked at her expectantly she came out. Giving him an apologetic smile, Felicity put her phone back into her purse and started to gather up her clothes.

“I was hoping to be able to spend some time together today,” he told her as she started to pull on her clothes.

“I'm not sure if your... business associate would appreciate that,” she countered. “And I was suppose to meet my friend for breakfast. He kind of got worried when I didn't show up.”

“Your friend,” he echoed, looking at her curiously.

Looking over at him, a smile came across her face. “Yes, my friend,” she repeated as she pulled on her tank top. Walking over to him, she sat down on the edge of the bed, running her hand along his arm. “He knows I don't travel much and wanted to make sure I was safe.”

“And were you safe?” Oliver asked, bringing his hand up to settle on her hip.

“I'd like to think so,” she replied before leaning down at pressing her lips to his in a soft kiss. When he brought his hand up to the back of her neck and held her to him longer than she originally had planned, she had to put her hand on his pillow to avoid falling over completely. His kiss felt hungry, like he was trying to convince her of something. When he finally released his hold on her head, she pulled back, breathing heavily.

It was hard for her to describe the look she saw on his face. It was almost... possessive and just a little bit scary. Oliver seemed to go from sweet and attentive to freakily scary in the blink of an eye. She didn't seem to know which version she would get when.

“I uh… I really… need to go,” she stammered as she picked herself up from the bed.

“You never said how long your business trip was,” he observed as she picked up her purse. When she heard his statement, she paused and turned back to him.

“I leave tomorrow.”

Oliver nodded as she turned and made her way to the door. As she reached for the handle, she paused before turning back to him and giving him a warm smile. “Thank you… for yesterday and last night.”

Oliver didn’t say a word as she opened the door and let herself out. It was ironic that she should say those words. He can recall doing something similar in his youth after his many one-night-stands. Falling back onto the bed, he rubbed his hands across his face to try to clear his head. He had let her get to him and that wasn’t good. It was time to purge her from his mind and get back to the task at hand. Looking at the clock, he sat up and proceeded to get ready for the day. He had some final preps to do before the gala that night and he wanted to make sure everything was in order. The quicker he got away from Bali, the quicker Felicity would be out of his head.

>>>\-------->

Felicity couldn't focus. Her mind kept going back to how she had left Oliver that morning. She knew that it wouldn't last, but that didn't make it hurt any less. Once they had what they needed, they would be leaving Bali and she would never see him again. She knew it was probably for the best. She really didn't know him and what she did know scared her a little. He was a very intimidating man, but also so sweet. Letting out a sigh, she looked at the program she had been handed when they had entered the room. She had to get him off of her mind.

This kind of event was not something Felicity was used to. Her job at QC wasn't one that required going to black-tie events. At least John was there with her. She knew he had some experience with this kind of work, but she felt completely out of her element. He would be doing most of the talking, in case anyone asked. She was just there to do her job.

“Ready to mingle?”

Felicity turned to see John walking up to her holding a glass of champagne. She took it gratefully and downed a good portion of it as John looked at her in surprise. 

“You might want to go easy on that,” he suggested.

“I'm hoping it will calm my nerves,” she explained as she tried to catch her breath. Downing a lot of a sparkling wine quickly did bad things to her stomach. “Because I'm very nervous.”

“Don't be,” John told her as he reached out and took her arm, looping it through his. “You'll do fine.”

“You have much more confidence than I do.”

They walked into the main exhibition hall where the items up for bid were being displayed. Felicity was playing her part, looking at the items and reading the descriptions in the program. When she felt John pull away from her, she looked at him in panic.

“I need to go check something,” he explained, whispering it in her ear. “I'll be back shortly.”

Felicity nodded nervously as she went back to looking at the program. When she turned the page, a series of photographs caught her eye. Reading the information, her heart skipped a beat. They were Oliver's photos. Looking around the exhibition hall, she tried to find the photographs, but didn’t see them right away. As she turned the corner, she saw them, blown up so you could see the details in every shot. Walking over to them, she looked at the information card below. A frown came over her face as she read it. It mentioned that Jonas Danforth had been killed in a boating accident on the Black Sea five years ago. She remembered him saying that he hadn't been home in a five years, but he didn't say anything about being presumed dead. She just figured with his schedule, he hadn't had time to return. Then she remembered the scaring on his chest and she let out a gasp. Had he been kidnapped while he was in Russia? Maybe that's why he learned Russian. But he wasn’t in Russia now? Why didn’t he just go home?

John came up behind her just as she let out the gasp. “Is everything alright?”

“What?” She practically jumped when she heard him speak. Looking over at him, she tried to calm her nerves. “Oh... yes. I'm fine.”

John gave her a disbelieving look as he looked over her shoulder at the information plaque. “'Jonas Danforth'?” he read. “Do you know his work?”

“Not really,” she revealed as she stared at the pictures. Her mystery man just kept on getting more and more mysterious.

>>>\-------->

Oliver looked around the room, trying to get a feel for the layout. There were more people in attendance at the fundraiser than he had expected there to be. Getting Xhe Zheng separated from them might prove to be more difficult than expected. He was glad that he had Aleksei outside on the adjacent rooftop. He wanted to get this taken care of tonight.

The plan was simple enough: Get close enough to the target to quietly stab him, making sure no one was the wiser. If Aleksei heard the fire alarm and saw him leaving through the side door, then he was to take him out with a rifle. Aleksei's task would be more difficult to do since there would definitely be more security around him, but they both decided there was no other way. Oliver just had to try to take care of it inside so they wouldn't have to resort to that.

Oliver knew he had to try to blend in, so he started walking around the room, looking at the various objects up for bid. He needed to find his target and try to figure out how to get him alone. When he heard a bit of commotion, he turned to see Xhe Zheng entering the room, flanked by two personal guards. Oliver smiled slightly when he saw the reduced detail. Either the extra security was for his daughter or else he just felt more secure in his own hotel. This might work after all.

Keeping an eye on him, he walked around the exhibition hall, occasionally looking at the items up for bid. When he saw his target walk around a corner, he quickly caught up with him and began to follow when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He had to do a double take when he saw it. There was a series of his own photographs blown up and on display. Looking back towards Xhe Zheng, he saw that he had stopped and was talking to one of the attendees. Taking a chance, he cautiously started walking towards his display. If they had a photograph of him, he might have more difficulty performing his task. He’d have to take care of that before taking care of his target.

There was a couple standing in front of the photos, so he couldn’t get very close, but even from this distance he could see that the information card didn’t have a photograph attached to it. Letting out a sigh, he was about to turn away when the woman standing in front of the picture turned, revealing her face to him. He felt his stomach drop when he realized who it was.

“Felicity…”

It felt strange seeing her face without her glasses, but after the previous night and the morning, he was intimately aware of her beautiful face. Her full length blue dress hugged her in just the right places and her blond hair was pulled up into a fancy twist. She was nervously twisting the champagne flute in her hand as she looked at the picture. He hadn't expected her to be there. Just to get into the fundraiser you had to have a certain amount of wealth. Based on what he knew about her, there was no reason for her to even be present. Maybe her companion was the one with the money.

He was just about to walk over to her when he heard the announcement that the auction was getting ready to start. The man who was with Felicity leaned down and whispered something to her that made her give a slight nod. Oliver watched as he led her away from the picture, heading with the rest of the attendees to an adjacent ballroom. He followed behind, never once taking his eyes from her. When he entered the ballroom, he saw that Felicity and her companion sat near the back of the room, right next to a side door. Hanging back, he just watched as the rest of the people filtered in. When he saw Xhe Zheng and his detail enter, he took note as to where they were sitting, near the front. Once he saw them sitting, he turned back to where Felicity's seat was only to find that she and her companion were no longer there. Quickly walking to the side door, Oliver quietly opened it just as the auction began. Looking down the corridor, he just barely saw Felicity and the other man walking away quickly. Moving as quietly as he could, he followed them, making sure to not gain their attention. He saw them stop outside of a door that was secured with a keypad. Frowning slightly, he saw Felicity pull out something from her clutch and plug it into the keypad. He could hear them speaking quietly to each other as Felicity tapped on her phone. When he saw the lights on the keypad go green, he noticed Felicity look up at her companion with a smug smile. With one last look along the corridor, Felicity opened the door and slipped inside, leaving her companion standing guard.

_“What is she up to?”_ Oliver thought. 

The sound of footsteps coming down the corridor got both Oliver and the other man's attention. Oliver maintained his position, but the other man looked both ways down the hall before heading towards the sounds. Seeing his opportunity, Oliver quickly went to the door and noted that it was still unlocked. Making as little noise as he could, he opened the door and slipped inside, making sure the door was closed by the same amount. When he turned and got a good look at the room, he noticed that he was standing in what looked like a computer server room. There were racks upon racks of equipment, all humming with activity. He didn't immediately see Felicity, but after walking into the room more, he found her sitting at a desk, typing frantically. There was enough background noise in the room that he was able to walk up behind her without her noticing. Looking at what she was doing, he frowned when he saw the computer code flying across the screen. It was going so fast that he didn’t know how she could keep up with it. Before too long she reached over and pulled out a flash drive from where it had been inserted, putting it into her clutch before she pressed a few keys and the monitor went dark. He just stood there as she turned around and jumped, letting out a soft squeak as she brought her hand up to her chest.

“Oliver?” she asked nervously. “What are you doing here?”

“I was about to ask you the same question,” he countered, crossing his arms in front of him.

“You can't be here right now,” Felicity told him, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the door.

“Neither can you,” he told her, pulling his arm from her as he looked at her in confusion. “Is this your consulting work? Hacking into a secure system?”

“It's not what it looks like,” Felicity explained, clearly anxious to get out of the room. “I'd love to explain it, but right now we need to leave.”

Felicity grabbed his arm again and pulled, trying to get him to leave with her. This time he allowed it as he quickly followed. They were just about to get to the door when they saw it start to swing open. Oliver quickly grabbed Felicity and push her behind him as he readied himself for whatever was about to happen. When the man Felicity was with entered the room, Oliver tensed, especially when he stopped, looking like he was ready for a fight.

“What's going on in here?” he asked, eyeing Felicity standing behind Oliver.

“We were trying to get out, John,” Felicity explained as she pushed her way between the two men. Felicity looked at him in confusion when he just closed the door, preventing their exit.

“Can't go now,” he told her. “Guards are coming.”

“I thought you said we had plenty of time while the auction was going on?” Felicity complained, dropping her hands to her side.

“The guards make the rounds every 10 minutes.” Felicity and her companion, whom Oliver heard her call ‘John’, both looked at Oliver in surprise as he stood there with his arms crossed. “Just wait a minute.”

“I'm sorry,” John said, looking at Oliver suspiciously, “who are you?”

“No kidding,” Felicity agreed, looking at Oliver in confusion.

“Do you want to play 20 questions or get out of here?” Oliver asked as he quickly moved to the door. He put his ear up to the door and listened carefully until the sounds of footsteps died down. Quietly turning the handle of the door, he slowly opened it and peaked outside, seeing no one in the corridor.

“Let's go.”

John looked at Felicity who just gave him a shrug before following Oliver out the now-opened door. John quickly followed after as they tried to be as quiet as possible as they moved down the hall. They were just about to turn a corner when they heard footsteps quickly coming up behind them. Cursing under his breath, Oliver grabbed Felicity's hand and started pulling her faster, trying to keep in front of the advancing men. Turning another corner, he stopped when more guards advanced from the front. He knew there was no way going back so they had to take a stand. Letting go of Felicity's hand, he moved forward as the guards yelled, “Stay where you are!”

The next two minutes were a blur in front of Felicity. Trying to stay out of the way, she backed up against a wall as she watched Oliver quickly knock two guards off their feet. John had stopped and was taking care of the guards that were coming up behind them. She couldn't take her eyes off of Oliver as he fought, using skills she didn't realize he had. With his guards on the ground, she saw him pull out a knife and hold it over his head, aiming to stab the guard that was already down on the ground.

“Oliver!”

Hearing his name, he stopped and looked at Felicity, seeing the terrified expression on her face. He didn't want her to see him kill someone, but he never left witnesses. His hesitation gave the guard a chance to kick his legs out from underneath him, causing him to fall to the ground as the knife clanged out of his hand. As the guard scrambled to get to his feet, Oliver kicked out, hitting him in the knee and causing him to drop back down. Reaching out to grab his knife, he again saw Felicity's face and made a decision. Getting to his feet, he turned the knife around and hit the guard in the face with the handle, efficiently knocking him out. With his guards taken care of, he looked to see John had just finished with his, leaving them in the clear.

Sliding his knife back into his sheath, he walked over to Felicity as John joined him. “You need to get her out of here,” he told him. He could already hear the sound of others coming their way. Looking down at a very confused Felicity, he reached out and gently touched her face. “I promise I will explain everything, but for now, you need to go.”

Felicity just nodded as she turned to John and grabbed his hand. With a look of acknowledgment between the men, John lead Felicity away as Oliver headed back towards where the auction was being held. With all of the security around, he knew he'd never get close to his target so, he went to plan B. Walking over to the fire alarm, he pulled the handle, causing the alarm to go off around the building. As the attendees quickly filtered out of the ballroom, he made his way towards them, trying to find any way of still completing his mission. It was difficult going against the flow of traffic coming out of the ballroom and when he saw Xhe Zheng, he was flanked by at least 5 guards. Letting out a groan, he watched as his target made his way to the side exit, keeping away from the main flow of people. Oliver tried to follow him, but he kept getting pushed back. By the time he made it to the side door, he already heard the gunshots going off. Pushing through the door, he saw two of Xhe Zheng's security pointing their weapons to the top of the adjacent building while two others turned to point their weapons at Oliver. Holding up his hands to show he didn't have any weapons, he looked between them and saw Xhe Zheng holding his shoulder, but still very much alive. Before he had a chance to act, a limousine pulled up and the security guards quickly pushed Xhe Zheng into the vehicle as it sped away. Oliver ran his hands over his head in frustration, knowing that they wouldn't get another opportunity while they were in Bali. Their mission had failed and now they had to return to Russia and face the consequences.

Looking up at the building, Oliver frowned, wondering why his partner hadn't continued to fire. He could have easily taken out the guards surrounding the target, but something had stopped him. Quickly moving over to the building, he made his way inside and up the stairs. Opening the roof access, he looked around for any sign of Aleksei. When he saw him laying on his back, he quickly ran over to him and dropped down next to him. He was bleeding from his chest.

“Hold on, Aleksei,” Oliver told him as he pulled off his jacket and balled it up, pressing it onto his wound.

“Jonas...”

“Shhh... Don't talk.” Oliver could see how much blood he was losing. He knew there was probably no chance for his friend, but he had to at least try.

Aleksei shook his head as he reached up to grab Oliver's arm, the blood from his hand staining his white tuxedo shirt. “You need... to... go home.”

Oliver shook his head as he looked down at his friend with tear filled eyes. “I won't do that to your family.”

“They will be fine,” Aleksei told him. “If I die... they will be fine. You need... to get out.”

“Don't talk like that,” Oliver ordered, putting more pressure on the wound.

“Oliver...”

Oliver looked into Aleksei's eyes when he heard his real name. He had told him who he was years ago, but had agreed to keep his identity secret. If he was using it now, he knew he was close to death.

“Go... home...”

With that, Aleksei let out a breath and breathed no more, his eyes fluttering closed. Oliver looked down at his friend before reaching to his neck to check his pulse. When he couldn't find it, he sat back onto his feet and let the tears slide down his face. Aleksei had been the closest thing to family that he had had over the past five years. It hurt like losing a brother and Oliver didn't know what to do. 

The sound of the roof access door opening caught his attention as he quickly picked up Aleksei's rifle and aimed it towards the door. When he saw John walking out, holding his own handgun up at Oliver, he paused, allowing the rifle to drop slightly. Both of them stared at each other, not knowing what to do next. 

“What are you doing here?” Oliver asked, slowly lowering the rifle. “I told you to get Felicity out!”

“I heard the gunshots,” John explained as he lowered his weapon, but didn’t put it away. “I knew they had come from this building and Felicity saw you run in. She begged me to follow you.”

Oliver dropped his eyes back to his friend as a wave of sadness came over him. Placing his hand on his chest, he turned back to John and asked, “Would you help me?”

John hesitated when he saw the body laying beside Oliver, but the look on Oliver's face made him quickly holster his weapon and walk over to him.

“I can't leave him here,” Oliver explained, indicating to his dead friend.

“No, I imagine not,” John agreed, still trying to figure Oliver out. Obviously the dead man was the one who was shooting at Xhe Zheng, but what was Oliver's connection to him? John had always seen the best in people at right now, all he saw in Oliver was someone who had just lost his friend. Walking over to stand near his head, John leaned down and put his hands under Aleksei's shoulders as Oliver grabbed his ankles. Together they carried him down the stairs and out the back of the building. As they carried his body to Oliver’s car, Felicity came running around to the parking lot, gasping when she saw what they were carrying. When she came up to them, she could see the sadness in Oliver’s eyes even though he hadn’t looked at her.

“Is that… Aleksei?” she asked softly, trying not to make it any worse.

Oliver didn’t answer her question, but instead said something else. “My keys are in my left pocket.”

Walking over to him, she reached into his coat and pulled out the key fob. Pressing the unlock button, she saw the lights of the car flash as she walked over to it. She was about to open one of the back doors when Oliver spoke.

“Pop the trunk.”

Felicity hesitated slightly until Oliver finally looked up at her. Pressing the trunk release button, the trunk popped open as John and Oliver carried the body over. Gently putting him in the trunk, Oliver looked at his friend one more time before closing it up.

“Thank you,” Oliver said to John before walking over to the driver’s side door. Felicity walked over to him and handed him back his key fob as he kept his gaze from her. Reaching up to his face, she forced him to look at her as she saw the sadness in his eyes.

“What’s going on, Oliver?” she asked.

Oliver let out a sigh before addressing his next statement to John. “Get her out of here,” he told him. “The police will be here soon.”

“Oliver…”

Oliver finally looked down at her, reaching up to gently touch her face. He couldn’t do this right now. It was his fault his friend was dead. Had he not been distracted by the photos and Felicity, his friend might not have been killed. He could have taken care of it inside, but the fight with the guards ruined everything. It was his fault and he had to take care of it.

The sound of sirens got his attention as he looked off in the distance to see the police cars arriving. Looking down at her again, he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss before turning and climbing into his car. When the car started, Felicity didn’t move, but John grabbed her arm and pulled her back. As she watched Oliver’s car drive away, she couldn’t help but think that it was the last time she would ever see him.

“Come on,” John told her as she watched the car drive away. “We need to go.”


	5. The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity is back in Starling City, but she can't get her mystery man out of her mind.

Felicity played with her pen as she stared off into space. It had been three weeks since she’d returned from Bali. Three weeks since she had last seen him. She had thought that by now she would have forgotten all about him, but his face kept creeping into her dreams at night. She closed her eyes and smiled as she remembered their one night together. It was the most memorable night of her life.

The sound of a commotion outside of her office brought her out of her memories as she leaned forward to look out her door. There were more people than usual walking the halls in IT and it sounded like something was going on. Getting up from her desk, she walked out to find quite a few people gathered together at the end of the hall. There were people talking over their cubicles and no one seemed to be actually working. Walking over to where two people were talking, she overheard part of their conversation.

“And he just showed up?” Kyle was saying, taking a bite of his granola bar.

“Apparently so,” Jason replied, sitting down and looking at his computer.

“So after being presumed dead for five years, he just walks back in like nothing has happened.” Kyle let out a huff as he leaned against the cubicle wall. “Sounds like a spoiled rich kid to me.”

Felicity frowned as she walked over to where the men were talking. “What’s going on?”

Jason looked up at her and pointed to his computer. “Oliver Queen is back,” he explained.

Felicity felt chills go down her spine when she heard his name. Slowly walking over to Jason’s computer, she hesitantly looked down and gasped when she saw his face. The computer was showing a news report with the headline of “Oliver Queen Found Alive!”. The photo that they had was the one she had seen on the QC website of a clean-shaven young man with sandy brown hair, but the video playing in the background showed the man with closely cropped hair and a short beard. It was the man she had met in Bali.

“Oh my god…”

Jason looked up at her with a look of concern on his face. “You ok, Felicity?”

“Hmm?” Felicity shook her head as she slowly backed away. “Um… yeah. I uh… I need to go…” Still staring at the computer, she pointed back to her office as she walked away. When she ran into another cubicle wall, it pulled her attention away from the computer as she was finally able to focus again. Walking quickly back to her office, she closed the door and sat down at her computer, pulling up the same news report that Jason had been viewing.

“It can’t be.”

She saw the same video that Jason had at his desk displayed on her computer. Pulling out her cell phone, she flipped through the pictures until she found the one she was looking for. Leaning back in her chair, she looked between the picture she had taken of Oliver at Tanah Lot and the picture on the computer. There was no denying it. It was the same man.

“I don’t believe it.”

When her cell phone went off in her hand, she practically jumped out of her seat. Seeing the caller ID, she quickly answered as she ran her hand over her head.

“Hello…”

“I assume you saw the news,” John commented as Felicity closed her eyes.

“Yes.”

“Did you know he was Oliver Queen?” he asked in an accusatory tone.

“No!” Felicity shouted as she opened her eyes and glared at her phone. “He never told me his last name.”

“And you didn’t recognize him?” John asked. “Felicity, you work at his family’s company!”

“Well, he died before I started working here,” she reminded him. “And the photo they have on the company's website doesn't look a thing like him now.”

Felicity sighed as she tried to calm herself down. “What are we going to do?” she asked quietly.

“Does he know you work at QC?” John asked.

“Yes.”

She could hear him sigh over the phone as she leaned her head down on her hand. “Ok… I’m coming over to pick you up,” he told her making Felicity sit up straight and frown.

“Why?”

“He might come after you,” he explained.

“John, he would never hurt me.”

“Felicity, do you know what he does? Do you know who he is?”

Felicity shook her head as she remembered the conversation they had when they returned to the hotel in Bali. He was obviously mixed up with people who wanted Xhe Zheng dead and considering he was fluent in Russian, they had come to the conclusion that he must be a member of the Bratva. ARGUS had known about Xhe Zheng’s connection to the Russian mob. It was one of the reasons they wanted access to his secure server.

“We don’t know that for sure,” Felicity reminded him. “You just made assumptions.”

“Assumptions based on facts, Felicity,” he countered. “The Bratva don’t leave witnesses. Are you willing to risk it?”

“He wouldn’t hurt me,” she repeated and then softer, “I know he wouldn’t.”

The silence on the phone made Felicity feel a little bit better. She knew he was considering what she had said.

“Fine,” he acquiesced. “But you don’t leave the building without calling me. And you wear your tracker.”

Felicity nodded and then realized he couldn’t actually see her. “Ok,” she replied, reaching into her purse and finding the GPS pin ARGUS had given her. After pinning it onto her blouse, she let out a sigh.

“Are you ok?” John asked.

“I don’t know. It’s all just… so much. I never thought I’d see him again.”

“Well, let’s just hope you don’t.”

Felicity rolled her eyes as she leaned back in her chair. “I’ll call you before I leave.”

“Good.”

With that, John disconnected the call leaving Felicity to drop her phone into her lap. She couldn’t believe it. He was actually there, in Starling. When she picked up her phone again, his picture was still being displayed. Smiling a little she looked at his face with a smile. Sliding to the next photo, she laughed a little at their combined selfie. There was no way he could be what John said he was. There had to be another explanation.

>>>\-------->

Oliver stood in the shadows and waited. He wasn’t feeling impatient this time. No, he could wait all night if he had to. He knew his mother and sister were waiting for him at home, but there was someone else he needed to see first. It didn’t take much effort to ditch the paparazzi surrounding his house. Now he just had to wait until she appeared.

He knew it was probably a bad idea. When he had last seen her in Bali, she looked so confused. He felt the need to explain to her what was going on. Even if she didn’t want to be with him, at least she would know the truth.

The sound of the elevator ding caught his attention as he looked over and smiled. He had never seen her dressed for work before, but her pink button down and black pencil skirt just seemed right on her. She pushed her glasses up as she reached into her purse, most likely searching for her keys. When he saw her pull them out and push a button, he saw the lights on a red mini cooper flash. Laughing lightly, he shook his head. He should have known that was her car.

Looking around carefully, he walked out of the shadows and towards her car. He had just reached the passenger door handle when he felt something cold and metallic pressing against his neck. He knew very well what that feeling was as he raised his hands slowly.

The cold feeling pulled back from his neck as he heard a man say, “Turn around slowly.”

Oliver obeyed the command as he turned to see John holding a weapon pointed right at him. The car shook behind him as he heard the driver’s side door open and Felicity got out of her car.

“John!’

“Felicity, get back in the car,” John ordered, not wavering on his holding of his weapon.

“I’m not here to hurt anyone,” Oliver explained, looking at the weapon in his hands. He knew he could easily disarm him, but that’s not why he was there. “I just want to talk.”

“You expect us to believe that?” John asked. “We know who you are and who you work for.”

“Please… just let me explain.”

“John, stop it!” Felicity yelled walking around the car and getting closer to Oliver. “I told you he’d never hurt me.”

“Felicity…”

“I want to hear what he has to say,” Felicity told him as she slowly approached John, making sure to keep out of his line of fire. Reaching up to touch his arm, she finally got his attention. “Please, John…”

John looked between Felicity and Oliver and slowly brought down his weapon, but keeping it trained on Oliver. “Fine,” he told her, keeping his eyes on Oliver.

Oliver slowly lowered his hands as he kept his eyes on John. When Felicity turned and looked at him, his gaze fell to her and softened considerably.

“Queen, huh?” she asked as smile came across her face.

Oliver smiled and shrugged slightly as he watched her walk over to him. “We can’t stay here,” he told her.

Felicity nodded as she turned to look at John. Holstering his weapon, he indicated towards another car. “We’ll take mine,” he told them. “I’m not squeezing into that sardine can.”

Felicity just glared at him as she walked towards his car. John kept his eyes on Oliver as he followed her. When they got close enough, John handed Felicity his keys as he opened the back door, indicating that Oliver should get in. Once he was inside, John turned back to Felicity with concern in his eyes.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked.

“It’ll be fine,” she told him as she opened the driver’s side door. She knew that he wanted to keep an eye on Oliver which was why he had given her the keys.

“I hope you’re right.”

>>>\-------->

It wasn’t long before they pulled up outside of Felicity’s townhouse. Oliver looked at it curiously as he climbed out of the car. As Felicity walked over to his side, she gave him a smile and started walking up the path. Oliver saw John get out of the car as he followed Felicity up the path with John behind him. Felicity unlocked the door and walked inside as Oliver and John followed.

“Make yourself at home,” she told them as John closed the front door. Oliver looked around the townhouse and smiled. It felt like Felicity lived here.

Looking over at the couch, Oliver walked over and sat down, rubbing his hands on his jeans. John took a seat across from him, still looking at him as if he could attack at any minute. When Felicity came back into the room and sat on the couch next to Oliver, he saw John visibly tense. Oliver turned slightly towards Felicity, making sure there was still plenty of space between them. The last thing he wanted to do was set John off.

“So, you wanted to talk,” Felicity began, crossing her hands in her lap as she looked at Oliver. “So… talk.”

Oliver looked at John momentarily before he decided he would just focus on Felicity. When he looked at her expectant eyes, he found he didn’t know where to start. Based on how John had been acting, he had assumed they had discovered some of the truths about him, but he didn’t know how much or what they knew. Taking a deep breath, he decided to start at the beginning.

“What I told you about becoming a professional photographer was the truth,” he began, thinking that starting with what she already knew might help. “I changed my name to Jonas Danforth and started traveling. Five years ago I ended up in Russia. I was just taking pictures around Moscow when I was jumped and thrown into a van. I found out later that I had inadvertently taking a picture of a high ranking officer in the Russian mob and he didn’t take too kindly to it.”

“You were kidnapped for taking a picture?” Felicity asked incredulously. “Sounds like a rather extreme reaction to having your picture taken.”

“No one takes a picture of the Russian Ghost without consequences.”

At the mention of his colonel's nickname, John straightened in his chair. “The Russian Ghost. ARGUS has been after him for years.”

Oliver looked between John and Felicity in surprise. “ARGUS? You're ARGUS agents?”

“Well, he is,” Felicity clarified, pointing to John. “I'm just a consultant. Like I said before. I.. consult. Well, most of the time. I only do field work when it's necessary and I figured going to Bali can't be that bad, so if I have to go, might as well go somewhere nice, right? Except… well, that gala wasn't really nice. Well, it was until the whole... fighting and shooting started. That was not fun. Not at all. Not fun.”

Oliver couldn't help but smile a little as Felicity rambled. It was obvious that the woman he had gotten to know in Bali was the genuine article. She was just being... her.

“So, how did you go from being kidnapped to working for the Bratva?” John asked, trying to piece this puzzle together.

“Colonel Ivanov… that’s his real name… He tortured me, thinking I was an American spy.”

Felicity gasped a little when she remembered all of the scaring on his chest. “Your scars… He did that… to you?”

Oliver nodded as he continued his story. “When he realized I was really just a photographer, he put me to work for him doing surveillance.”

“And you just agreed to this,” John asked, leaning back and crossing his arms.

“Well, he didn’t give me a lot of choice.”

“So, you've been working for the Bratva for the past five years,” John stated, making sure he was getting the facts right. “Why didn't you ever try to escape?”

“I did,” Oliver revealed. “My family thought I was dead and after what I’ve had to do to survive…” Oliver slowly shook his head as he remembered the torture. “Colonel Ivanov doesn't take too kindly to people leaving, especially when you've seen his face. When torture didn't work, he decided to threaten the life of someone else. He told me he would kill Aleksei's family if I tried to run away again. I couldn't be responsible for that.”

“Aleksei was the man from the roof?” John asked as he crossed his arms in front of him.

“He was a good man,” Oliver defended. “All he wanted to do was get his little girl healthy again. He made a bad decision and it cost him his life.”

Felicity could see how affected he was by his friend’s death. Scooting a little closer to him, she reached out and put her hand on his leg, giving it a slight squeeze. When he felt her touch, he looked up and put his hand on top of hers, gripping her hand tightly. A small smile came over her face as she looked at him. She knew there was more to him than what John thought.

The sound of John clearing his throat caused Felicity to pull her hand back as she crossed her hands in her lap.

“So, what changed?” John asked, glaring a little at Felicity before turning back to Oliver. Seeing his confused look, he continued. “You’re here.”

“Aleksei died while on mission,” he explained. “One thing that the Bratva does is take care of it's own. By the time I left Bali someone from the Bratva had come to claim Aleksei’s body, to verify his death. His family will be fine.”

“And what about you?” Felicity asked, causing him to look at her and see her concern. 

Oliver let out a sigh before he began. He knew she wouldn’t like what he was going to say. “The Bratva found two bodies. They were burned beyond recognition, but certain things were found on their bodies that would confirm their identities.”

Felicity gasped as she brought her hand up to her mouth. “They think you’re dead?”

“They have to,” Oliver explained. “Otherwise they wouldn’t stop looking for me.”

“And you killed a man to make that happen,” John observed, crossing his arms and looking at Oliver in an accusatory way.

“No,” Oliver told him, looking at him sternly. “I found a body the right size at the local morgue.” Looking back to Felicity, he wanted to make sure she understood. “I don’t want to be a killer anymore.”

“But your face has been all over the news,” Felicity reminded him.

“Colonel Ivanov knows me as Jonas Danforth,” Oliver explained. “He never made the connection back to my family. He thinks I’m dead and even if he does make the connection, I’m hoping that all of the press coverage will deter him. The colonel is very private. The last thing he'll want is publicity and the murder of Oliver Queen? That's very public.”

Felicity cringed when she heard him talk about his own potential murder. Looking away from him, she got up and wrapped her arms around herself. Oliver sat up straighter when she rose as he looked at her with concern on his face.

“ARGUS might be able to do something about that,” John offered. “But you’re going to have to offer us something in return.”

Oliver nodded as he tore his gaze from Felicity. “I can tell you what I know about his operations. Where to find him… Who his contacts are… The more I can disrupt his operations the less likely he is to come after me.”

“Or the more pissed off he’ll be with you,” Felicity countered. Oliver looked over at her, knowing she wasn’t very happy with what he was proposing.

“Felicity, I have to do something. For Aleksei. He wouldn't want anyone else to suffer under the threats of that man.”

Felicity looked at him for a moment before averting her eyes. Oliver watched as she walked into the kitchen without saying another word. It was only John’s words that got him to return his focus to him.

“I’m going to make a few phone calls,” he told them as he pulled out his phone. “Let’s see if we can get this show on the road.”

Oliver nodded as looked down and nervously twisted his hands together. He knows that once he goes down the path of betraying Colonel Ivanov, there will be no going back. The sound of the front door opening brought his attention back up as he watched John walk out onto the front porch for some privacy. Looking towards the kitchen, he could see Felicity just standing there. Getting up from the couch, he slowly made his way over, stopping when he reached the threshold to the room.

“Are you alright?” he asked softly as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

“I’m not sure,” she admitted as she tried to focus on making some coffee. “It’s a lot to take in.”

“I know,” Oliver sighed as he looked down at his feet. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to pull you into this. Maybe I should have just stayed away.”

That got Felicity’s attention as she turned and looked at him with a stunned look. “And what would have happened if you went back?”

Oliver shrugged, not wanting to tell her the truth. He knew exactly what would happen to him and he didn’t want her to know about it.

“Don’t lie to me, Oliver,” she scolded as she walked up to him. “I’ve heard what happens in the Bratva when people fail in their missions. What was done to you before was nothing compared to what I’ve heard.”

Oliver couldn’t deny what she was saying. He had never failed a mission before which is why he survived five years. There weren’t second chances in the Bratva. But they wouldn’t kill you. No, you’d be tortured to the point of death and then made to do some other task for your colonel, but you’d never see the light of day again. If that had happened to Oliver, he’d never have the chance to reunite with his family… or Felicity.

“It would have been better than putting my family in danger.”

“John will think of something,” she reassured him, going back to her mug. “He has to. With everything you’ve gone through, he has to…”

Felicity felt her voice catch in her throat as she tried to hold in her emotions. She didn’t understand how she could have gotten so attached to someone in such a sort amount of time. The idea of him being hurt again caused physical pain in her chest.

Oliver knew he shouldn’t touch her, but after hearing how upset she was, he instinctively walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. When she felt his touch, Felicity turned and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest. Oliver wrapped his arms around her back and leaned down onto her head, letting out a soft sigh. He had wanted to hold her again ever since he saw her in the parking garage.

“This is so messed up,” she sobbed. “I just want to keep holding onto you and hope that it all goes away, but I'm not even sure who you are anymore. Is the man I care about Oliver Queen or some Bratva operative?”

“Felicity, I've been more the real me with you than I have in the past five years,” he revealed, causing her to pull away from his chest and look up at him. “Every moment I spent with you... at Tanah Lot... on the pier... at dinner... That was all the real me. You brought out the person I had hidden away for five years and I’m so grateful to you for doing that. You helped me become Oliver Queen again.”

“I was hoping you'd say that,” she told him as she gave him a smile. “Because I really like that person.”

Going against his better instincts, Oliver reached up to gently caress her face with the back of his hand. “So do I.”

Oliver knew he should pull away from her. Until things with the Bratva were cleared up, he couldn’t be with her for fear of them using her against him. He wouldn’t put her in danger. As he looked down at her, he couldn’t deny his feelings no matter how much he knew he should. Leaning down to her, he gave her a sweet kiss. He had meant for it to be very quick, but when he felt her grip his shirt and pull him closer, he reached up and cupped her face, holding her tightly to him. She had just started to slide her hands up his chest to wrap her arms around his neck when they heard the front door open. Felicity pulled back quickly as she gripped his wrists and pulled his hands away from her face. Taking a deep breath, she backed away from him until she ran into the counter. When John joined them in the kitchen, he looked between them, knowing he had probably interrupted something.

“ARGUS is willing to meet with you,” John told him as he put his phone back into his pocket.

“When?” Felicity asked.

“As soon as possible,” John explained. “The sooner we get moving on the Russian Ghost, the sooner Oliver will be out of danger.”

“I need to go meet with my family,” he told him. “They’re expecting me.”

“I’ll give you a lift,” John offered as he walked out of the kitchen. “We can go to ARGUS tomorrow.” 

Oliver followed John out of the kitchen after giving her a small smile. As the front door opened, Felicity walked out and just watched as they made their way out of her townhouse. Before the door closed, Oliver turned back to her and smiled.

“It’ll be fine.”

As the door closed, Felicity wrapped her arms around herself and took a deep breath. She wished she felt as confident as he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got a bit of a vacation coming up starting today so I probably won't be able to update for a little while. That all depends on how busy I am and if I have good WiFi in my hotels. Thanks to everyone who is reading this! It's nice to get the feedback!


	6. Secret Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Felicity try to keep their meetings secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still on vacation, but I got access to WiFi and had some downtime so I thought I'd throw in an update. Spending some interesting days in England and France. Never been off the North American continent so this has been an adventure! Probably won't update again until I'm home on Thursday or Friday. Going to Paris tomorrow!

Felicity idly watched the newscast on her computer while she tried to focus. Oliver’s face was all over Starling City news. She couldn’t find a news channel or newspaper that didn’t have something about his return. The return of Oliver Queen was the story everyone wanted to tell. She just hoped that the Bratva didn’t notice.

The news was saying that Oliver had just completed a strange task: Proving that he was still alive. He had to go to court to file papers explaining what had happened and proving he was who he said he was. It was strange, but necessary, especially for someone from a family like the Queen’s. She could see how uncomfortable he was with all of the press coverage and she felt bad for him. He had just spent five years having to do such horrible things. Why couldn’t they just leave him alone.

“Pretty exciting, isn’t it?”

Felicity jumped a little when she heard her co-worker’s voice. Turning her attention away from her computer, she smiled and gave her a shrug.

“I guess so,” Felicity remarked, going back to her work.

“You don’t think so? It’s not every day you come back from the dead.”

Felicity looked up at her with a smirk on her face. “Stephanie, you do realize he wasn’t actually dead, right?”

“Well, of course I do,” Stephanie answered as she looked over at the video still playing on Felicity’s other monitor. “It’s still kind of exciting though.”

Felicity looked over at the video and shrugged. “I wouldn’t want to be him, having to deal with all that press. I mean, he’s been away from his family for five years. Give the guy a break.”

“I guess,” Stephanie agreed before pulling her attention back to Felicity. “So, a few of us were going to get some lunch. We thought we might catch a glimpse of him when he comes to QC later. Feel like joining us?”

Felicity stopped typing and looked up at her in surprise. “Oliver is coming here??” she asked as her heart started pounding in her chest.

“Oliver?” Stephanie teased, crossing her arms and leaning onto the door frame. “Since when are you on a first name basis with him?”

“I’m not,” Felicity stammered, fidgeting with a pen on her desk. “I mean… he is… Oliver. That’s his name. I guess I could have said Mr. Queen, but then you might think I meant Mr. Queen… as in his father, Mr. Queen… Not Oliver, Mr. Queen.”

Stephanie laughed a little as she pushed herself off of the doorframe. “So, are you coming or not?”

Felicity considered it for a moment, but then decided she would probably just make a fool of herself if she saw him again. “I have a lot of work to do,” she told her. “Thanks anyway.”

“Suit yourself,” Stephanie replied. “We’ll try to get you a picture.”

“You don’t…” Felicity couldn’t complete her thought as Stephanie turned and left her office. Looking back at her monitor, she let out a small sigh as the video continued to repeat his journey out of the courthouse. She hadn’t seen him since he left her townhouse four days ago, but she knew from talking to John that he had been to ARGUS. Seeing as he was still out and about at least she knew ARGUS hadn’t just thrown him in a cell somewhere. Maybe his fame was working for him on both fronts.

Shaking her head, she turned off the video feed and took a deep breath. She really did need to get some work done.

>>>\-------->

Oliver walked into Queen Consolidated, happy to be away from the prying eyes of the media. He knew he would be inundated by the press on his return, but these particular press seemed relentless. Didn’t they have something else to report on?

It had been four days since he’d last seen Felicity. He knew it was better staying away from her, but being back at QC and knowing she was probably somewhere in the building, he couldn’t help but wonder if he should try to find her. He knew the reason he was there was to have lunch with his father, but that wouldn’t take long, especially knowing his father’s schedule. He couldn’t even break away from work to go to the courthouse with the rest of the family. One had to have one’s priorities straight.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a group of women standing by the security desk, all looking at him. A few of them had their phones out, no doubt taking pictures. Oliver turned and gave them a smile, making all of them smile a little back. Shaking his head in disbelief, he walked over to the executive elevator and pressed the up button.

“You seem to have groupies wherever you go,” John observed as he stood next to Oliver. As part of the deal with ARGUS, John had been assigned as Oliver’s personal security. Until they had been able to verify his story, he was being kept on a short leash.

“Apparently coming back from the dead is something special,” he commented. “People are interested.”

John turned back to see the group of women still looking their way with a few of them talking to each other or looking at their phones.

“Somehow I don’t think it’s the coming back from the dead that interests them.”

Oliver turned to John with a smirk as the elevator doors opened. As they walked in and pressed the floor for his father’s office, they caught a glimpse of some of the women walking a bit closer, trying to keep their eyes on him as long as possible. Just as the doors were about to close, Oliver gave them a wink, which caused at least one of them to start giggling. When he looked over at John, he saw his eyebrows raised in disbelief. “What?”

They rode up the elevator in relative silence until they were just a few floors from their destination. Looking at the buttons for the other floors, Oliver couldn’t help but wonder which floor Felicity was on.

“So, do you think Felicity is here today?” he asked, trying to sound casual.

“Probably,” John replied. “She does work normal hours like everyone else.”

“Well, except when she’s ‘consulting’,” Oliver remarked, giving John a knowing smile.

“I don’t think she’ll be doing much ‘consulting’ for a while,” John told him. “At least not as long as I have to be your bodyguard.”

“Maybe you should talk to ARGUS about that,” Oliver told him as he watched the floor numbers increase. “I don’t really need a babysitter.”

“Well, they have a lot riding on you,” John explained. “And they aren’t as trusting as I am.”

Oliver looked at him out of the corner of his eye as he smiled slightly. If John was trusting, that was news to him.

Finally, the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. Oliver walked out, followed closely by John. As they walked towards Robert Queen’s office, they were intercepted by a woman who was obviously his father’s assistant.

“Mr. Queen,” she addressed as she walked up to him. “I’m afraid your father had to cancel your lunch. He was pulled away to a very important meeting.”

Oliver let out sigh as he looked into his father’s empty office. “Of course he was.”

“It was very last minute,” she explained. “He left not five minutes ago.”

Looking at his watch, Oliver took a breath before giving his father’s assistant a smile. “Thank you.”

As the assistant walked back to her desk, Oliver turned to John and patted him on the shoulder. “Looks like it’s just you and me.”

John groaned as he pulled out his phone. “I was hoping I could pawn you off onto your father for an hour,” he explained, putting the phone to his ear. “I already had lunch plans.”

Oliver put his hand on John’s arm, gaining John’s attention. “Keep your plans,” Oliver told him. “I’ll just go home.”

John thought about it for a moment, but then put the phone back into his pocket. Walking over to the elevator, Oliver walked in first and went to hit the lobby button, but John stopped him before he did. When Oliver gave him a strange look, John reached over to press a different one.

“Felicity is on the 8th floor.”

Oliver smiled as he settled into the elevator. Reaching up, he straightened his tie before brushing his hands along his coat. John laughed lightly as he folded his hands in front of him. This was going to be interesting.

>>>\-------->

Felicity stared at the tablet, trying to make sense of what she was reading. Why did her boss always have to do this to her? It was a simple enough task, but she always had to check his work before it got them into trouble. Shaking her head, she tapped on it a few times, making a few changes here and there. She was so engrossed in what she was doing that she didn’t even notice the person standing in her doorway. 

“Hey.”

Felicity jumped, almost dropping her tablet onto her desk. When she looked up and saw Oliver standing there, she glared at him. “Don’t you knock?” 

Oliver just smiled as he leaned against her doorframe. “Felicity, it’s the IT department, not the ladies’ room.”

“I realize that,” she told him, putting the tablet onto her desk. “I just… wasn’t expecting to see you. How did you even know where my office was?”

“It’s not a secret, is it?” Oliver teased as he pushed himself up and stood in front of her desk.

Felicity studied him for a moment before a smile came across her face. “John told you, didn’t he?”

Oliver’s smile widened as he began to walk around her desk, making her heart start to beat faster. “Well, I don’t even have your phone number,” he explained. “How else was I going to find you?”

“Your name is on the building,” Felicity reminded him as he pulled up a chair to sit right next to her. “And you know that I work here. You could have just asked… almost anyone.”

“I wasn’t sure it was a smart idea to come and see you,” he explained, moving his chair closer so that his legs were around her chair. “Being seen with me might be dangerous.”

“And yet… here you are,” she observed, giving him a smile.

Oliver looked at her and sighed. “Yeah, I was never really known for doing the smart thing, especially where you’re concerned.”

“Maybe we’ll just have to make sure no one sees us together then,” she suggested as she leaned closer to him and spoke softly.

Oliver smiled as he leaned closer to her. “I can be discrete.”

“Really?” she said in surprise. “Your face was all over the news. Most of the people down here left when they heard you were coming to QC. They wanted to see if they could catch a glimpse of you in the lobby. I wouldn’t call that being discrete.”

“That was for show,” he told her as he reached out and took her hand. “The more I’m in the public eye, the less likely the Bratva will come after me.”

“So, being seen with me really isn’t a smart idea,” she remarked, “but being seen in public is… as long as it’s not with me.”

Oliver paused for a moment as he considered her statement before nodding and giving her a smile.

“Well, you’re doing a really terrible job staying away, aren’t you?”

Oliver shrugged as he looked down at their joined hands. “What can I say?” he asked before looking back up at her again. “You’re irresistible.”

Felicity felt like the air had been pulled from her lungs as she looked at him. How could such a dangerous man do such things to her? She’d never been one to go after the ‘bad boys’, but Oliver was… different.

“I think I saw your friends in the lobby,” he revealed. “They weren’t very subtle.”

“Not surprising.”

“But you didn’t go,” he noticed.

Felicity shrugged as she got close enough to feel his breath on her face. “I’ve seen you often enough.”

“So, you don’t want to see me anymore?” he asked as he rubbed his nose against hers.

Felicity felt her breath catch in her throat. “I didn’t say that.”

She could just barely feel his lips brushing against hers as she held her breath in anticipation. He was teasing her and it was almost torture. She knew her door was open and anyone could walk by and see them at any moment, but she just couldn’t help herself. Closing the final distance between them, she pressed her lips to his as his hand made its way up to her face. Sliding her hands up to his neck, she pulled him towards her as she felt his other hand land on her thigh. Oliver’s thumb made soft circles on her leg as she angled her head for better access to his mouth. Their positions sitting in the chairs didn’t leave much opportunity to get closer, so when they found themselves needing to breathe, they broke from their kiss, leaning against each other as they tried to catch their breath.

“Hi,” Oliver breathed as he continued to rub his thumb on her leg.

A huge smile came over Felicity’s face as she gently rubbed his cheek. “Hi. Are you all done at ARGUS?”

Oliver let out a sigh as he rolled his eyes. “They’re checking my story,” he explained. “Until then, I have a babysitter.”

“A babysitter?” Felicity echoed, cautiously looking at her door.

“He’s waiting down the hall,” Oliver explained. “You’ll like him. He’s quite the teddy bear.”

Felicity looked at him with a knowing smirk. “It’s John, isn’t it?”

“How did you ever figure that out?” he teased as he took her hands in his.

“Well, let’s just say he had a similar duty with me when I started consulting,” she revealed. “I’m sure he’s as much fun with you as he was with me.”

Oliver gave her a brilliant smile before bringing her hand up to give it a kiss. “So, I was hoping you were free for lunch. My dad had to cancel.”

“What happened to not being seen together?” she asked, remembering how invasive the press had been lately. “Aren’t you concerned for my safety anymore?”

“Felicity, I will always be concerned about your safety,” he admitted. “There are ways out of this building that don’t involve going through the gauntlet of the press. I just… want to spend some time with you.”

Looking back at her computer, Felicity knew she still had a lot of work to do, but after that kiss, she really couldn’t focus. Turning back to him, she gave him a smile and squeezed his hands. “I’d love to have lunch with you.”

Oliver gave her a big smile before pushing his chair back and standing, pulling her up with him. After grabbing her purse, she allowed him to lead her around her desk. The sound of people coming back to the area made them both hesitate. Felicity knew how the rumor-mill of QC worked. If the word got out that they were having lunch together the press might find out and then the Bratva. Reaching back to her desk, she grabbed her tablet before looking out into the hall. She could see her co-workers heading back to their desks, talking among themselves.

“Just follow my lead,” she told him as she let go of his hand and lead him out of her office. When they approached some of her colleagues walking towards them, she looked down at her tablet and pretended like she was explaining something to Oliver. He could see what she was doing and played along, looking down at her tablet and nodding as she explained. When he looked up, he could see that her co-workers had all stopped and were staring at them as they walked by. Oliver smiled and gave a little wave before Felicity looked up and saw them staring too.

“Mr. Queen, this is important to know,” she told him, getting his attention back.

“Oh… I’m sorry, Miss Smoak. Please continue.”

They met up with John at the elevator as he pressed the button to go down. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw her co-workers still looking at them as she rolled her eyes. Looking back at the tablet, she again pretended to be showing something to Oliver as he intently followed her lead. Once the doors to the elevator opened, they walked inside and turned as John pressed the button for the lobby. It wasn’t until the doors closed that Felicity leaned against the back wall and relaxed. Reaching over to Oliver, she playfully slapped his arm, gaining a soft, “Ow” in return.

“Did you have to encourage them?” she asked.

“I’m sorry,” Oliver said as he walked over to stand next to her. “I thought it would make them stop staring if I acknowledged them.”

“Well, it didn’t, did it?”

“I said I was sorry,” Oliver reminded her as he leaned down to give her a quick kiss on her temple. “Will you ever forgive me?”

“That depends on how bad the inquisition is when I get back.” As if on queue, her tablet pinged as she got an instant message from Stephanie. “And so, it begins.”

Oliver looked down at the tablet and saw the message from Stephanie. _WAS THAT WHO I THINK IT WAS??_

Felicity rolled her eyes as she typed her response. _That depends. Who did you think it was?_

_Why was Oliver Queen in IT?_

Felicity thought about it for a moment before replying, _He needed help with his computer and I was the only one available. Apparently the rest of the department went to go spy on him in the lobby._

Oliver looked at her and smiled as he wrapped his arm around her waist. “Serves them right for leaving,” Oliver told her. “Maybe I would have asked Stephanie for help instead.”

Felicity just nudged him in the side with her elbow as she waited for the inevitable response.

_You are so lucky!_

Felicity looked up at Oliver and gave him a warm smile. “I really am.”

>>>\-------->

Lunch was really not what Felicity had expected. She had figured since Oliver was so rich, they’d go someplace she could never afford and be squirreled away back somewhere no one could see them. She had no idea she’d be sitting in a booth across from Oliver at Big Belly Burger.

“This isn’t the type of place I thought you’d frequent,” Felicity commented as she took a sip of her milkshake.

“John was going to have lunch with his brother,” Oliver explained. “When my dad cancelled our lunch, he was stuck with me. He said he was meeting his brother here and it seemed out of the way enough to be private.”

“Well, it makes sense,” Felicity admitted as she munched on a French fry. “I mean, Carly works here.”

“Who’s Carly?” Oliver asked as he sipped his shake.

Felicity indicated to the other booth where John and his brother were seated. There was a woman standing by their table, making all of them smile, especially John’s brother.

“Girlfriend?” Oliver asked.

“Andy’s wife,” Felicity corrected. “She works a lot so they frequently come in for lunch just to visit.”

Oliver nodded as he picked up his rather sizable burger. Taking a bite of it, he groaned as he closed his eyes and savored the taste. When he opened them again, he saw Felicity looking at him with a strange smile on her face.

“What?” he asked with his mouth full of food.

“You act like you’ve never had a burger before,” she told him, picking up her burger to take a bite.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had a good old fashioned American cheeseburger,” he revealed. “There’s just something special about it.”

Felicity smiled as she put her burger back down. “Must be all of the grease. I’ll have to remember that for our next lunch.”

Oliver grimaced as he put his burger down. “I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to see you,” he explained. “I was serious about not putting you in danger. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”

“Do you know when ARGUS is going to move on the Bratva?” she asked, wiping her hands with her napkin.

Oliver just shook his head. “They won’t tell me anything. They don’t trust me.”

Felicity reached over and covered his hand with hers before he twisted his hand, entwining their fingers. “It’ll be ok, Oliver. Soon, this will all be over.”

Oliver wished he could be as confident as Felicity, but he knew the Bratva. If ARGUS didn’t succeed, he’d have to leave again and this time, he wouldn’t be able to come back.


	7. Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ARGUS moves on the Bratva and Oliver and Felicity celebrate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back home after my vacation! Boy, what a trip. Now all I have to do is get more of this written and I'll be happy.
> 
> I decided not to do the Russian words this time, but just imagine the first part being said in Russian. It takes to long to translate.

How could this have happened? No one outside of their cell knew the location of their headquarters. The only way they could have found out was if someone inside his own organization had told them. But who?

Slamming his fist on the table, Colonel Vacili Ivanov growled causing the men around him to back up a little. It normally didn’t bode well for people around him when Colonel Ivanov got upset.

“Who did this?” he asked, looking at the circle of captains around him.

One of the captains spoke up, trying to say the words that would calm his colonel. “The Americans,” he supplied. “ARGUS.”

“And how did ARGUS find out where our headquarters was?” he shouted, looking around at the men in front of him. “Hmm? Only the people in this room know that information which means one of you told them!”

The rumblings among the captains began as they looked to each other and started throwing out accusations. This one heard this. That one saw that. He had hoped that the loyalty of his captains would be enough, but apparently not.

“Enough!” he yelled, getting the captains to quiet down. Taking a deep breath, he looked at the men assembled in front of him. “I will find out who did this and they and their family will pay!”

“Colonel,” one of the captains spoke as one of his lieutenants had given him a computer tablet. “I may have your answer.”

Ivanov gestured that the man should come forward. Walking towards him, he handed the tablet to Ivanov who looked at it in confusion.

On the screen was an article from a foreign newspaper’s website, reporting on the return of a missing man. “Why do I care about an American billionaire?” he asked, looking up at the captain. The captain reached over and scrolled down for him, making an image appear on the screen. When the colonel saw the picture, his hands gripped the tablet so tightly it groaned under the pressure.

“Jonas…”

>>>\-------->

Felicity walked out of the elevator, reaching into her bag for her car keys. It had been a long day at work and all she wanted to do was go home, take a long bath, and lose herself watching Netflix. As she turned the corner and made her way to her car, she stopped when she saw John standing next to his own car that was parked next to hers. She let out an audible groan as she dropped her hands and slumped her shoulders in frustration.

“Really?” Felicity asked as she walked up to him. “Right now?”

Felicity knew that when ARGUS had something for Felicity to ‘consult’ on, he would show up at the end of the day, waiting by her car. She so did not want to be doing that tonight.

“Sorry,” John said, trying to hold back his smile.

“It’s been a long day, John,” Felicity told him as she stood in front of him with sad eyes. “Can’t this wait until tomorrow?”

“As much as I’d like to say yes, no, it can’t wait.”

Letting out a huff, she threw her purse over her shoulder and made her way to his car. She knew the deal. Opening the back door, she climbed in, not noticing until she was seated that she wasn’t alone in the car.

“Oliver…”

Oliver just smiled at her as John closed the door. When John climbed into the driver’s side, she looked between the two men suspiciously. “What’s going on?”

“It’s a surprise,” Oliver told her as John started the car.

“I hate surprises,” Felicity told him as she settled into her seat.

“See,” John offered as he pulled out of the parking garage. “What did I tell you?”

“You’ll like this one,” Oliver told her, ignoring John’s comment.

Felicity still didn’t feel as at ease as she should as she looked between the two men. “Why do I feel like I’m being ganged up on?”

“Oh, this was his idea,” John defended. “I’m just driving.”

“And why did I need to be here?” she asked, looking at Oliver.

“Because we have to celebrate,” he explained, reaching over to take her hand.

“What are we celebrating?” she asked as a small smile crept over her face.

Oliver looked to John for approval, who gave him a slight nod in the rearview mirror. “ARGUS moved on Ivanov,” he explained. “They destroyed his headquarters.”

Felicity’s eyes grew wide as she looked at him expectantly. “Does that mean…”

Oliver nodded as a smile came across his face. “They still have to confirm it, but it sounds like I’m finally free.”

“Oh, Oliver!” Reaching over to him, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him as close as she could, given their current seating arrangement. Oliver wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her shoulder as he let out a sigh.

“I hope you don’t mind me springing this on you,” he told her as he pulled back to look at her face. “You’re the first one I thought of telling when John told me the news. I just wanted to see you again.”

Felicity didn’t know what to say. She just reached up and gently touched his face. When he mimicked her actions, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. Felicity let her hand slide back to his neck as she pulled herself towards him, almost climbing into his lap. Their embrace ended when the car stopped and John cleared his throat.

“Try not to scratch it,” John told him as he opened his car door. Felicity looked at him in confusion until Oliver smiled and opened his door and got out. Walking over to her side, he opened her door and helped her get out as she realized where they were.

“Why are we at your place?” she asked John.

“As much as I’m sure you’d want me along for your little ‘date’,” he told her, “I think it’s better if you were alone.”

“And ARGUS is ok with this?” Felicity asked, directing her question to Oliver.

Oliver looked at John before turning back to Felicity and pulling up his sleeve of his jacket. She immediately recognized the plastic band around his wrist. She had been given a choice of GPS trackers, but she had chosen a pin instead.

“Ah.”

“Well, at least we can still be alone,” he remarked as he gripped her waist and pulled her towards him.

“And on that note…” John bid his goodbyes and walked up the walkway as Oliver took Felicity’s hand and led her to the passenger side of the car. Opening the door for her, he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss before she leaned down and climbed into the car. Walking back over to the driver’s side, Oliver quickly got in and put his seatbelt on, looking at Felicity with a smile.

“So, where are we going?” she asked, clasping her hands in front of her.

Oliver turned to her and gave her a smile before pulling the car out onto the street. “You’ll see.”

>>>\-------->

“Oliver, this is wonderful,” Felicity sighed as she looked out at the setting sun. Oliver had driven her to the highest point in Starling City to watch the sunset. He had laid out a blanket and set out the most delicious picnic dinner Felicity had ever had. As she looked out at Star City, she saw it glowing as it came to life in the early evening hours.

Felicity turned to him, wine glass in hand as she watched him setup his camera on a tripod. “I’m glad you like it,” he told her. “It’s not as nice as sunsets in Bali, but…”

He trailed off when he looked up and saw her in the early evening sunlight. He couldn’t help but smile at the memory of when he had first met her, all those weeks ago, in a similar situation.

“Don’t move.”

Felicity froze as she looked around with her eyes. “Is there something wrong?” she asked, getting nervous about maybe a bee or something.

Oliver turned his camera so that it was facing her and looked through the viewfinder. When she saw what he was doing, she relaxed and dropped her arms to her side. “Really?”

Picking his gaze up from the camera, Oliver looked at her and smiled. “I told you. I have to take pictures of things that are beautiful.”

That got a smile to come over her face as he pressed the shutter. He was just about to go back to the sunset when Felicity asked, “Does that have a timer?”

“Yes,” Oliver asked hesitantly. “Why?”

Felicity smiled and held her hand out to him. “Set it and come over here.”

Oliver paused for a moment before he shook his head and adjusted the camera. Making sure she was still in the shot, he did as she asked and set the timer. Walking over to her, he stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her as he looked at the camera. When the timer light started flashing, she smiled brightly as he grinned. Once the picture was taken, he walked back over to it and began putting it back to the sunset.

“Can I see?” she asked as she quickly made her way over to him. Pressing a button on the back of the camera, he displayed the last image on the viewscreen. Felicity smiled as he grabbed onto his arm and held him close. “I want a copy.”

Leaning down to kiss the top of her head, Oliver smiled and went back to adjusting the camera to take pictures of the sunset.

“Wait… I want one too.”

Oliver watched her as she walked over and put her wine glass down, grabbing her purse and rummaging through it. When he saw her pull out her phone, he just rolled his eyes.

“I’ll get you a copy from my camera,” he reiterated as she walked over to him and configured her phone.

“I know,” she said as she leaned up against him. “But I want one here too.”

Letting out a sigh, he turned and looked at her phone, but right when she was about to press the capture button, he turned and pressed a kiss into her temple. Felicity looked at the photo on her phone with a big smile before turning back to him. Getting up on her toes, she reached up and gave him a quick kiss before heading back to put her phone away.

“By the way,” she said as she settled back down on the blanket. “You have to tell me where you got this food. It was amazing.”

Oliver smiled as he looked through the viewfinder and snapped off a few shots. “You can have it as often as you want,” he told her, “because I made it.”

Felicity sat up straight and looked at him in shock. “You did?”

“Mmm hmm.”

“All of this?” she asked, swirling her hand around to encircle the remnants of their meal.

Oliver let out a small laugh as he looked at her shocked face. “Don’t sound so surprised.”

“Well, I didn’t think billionaires learned to cook,” she told him as she leaned back onto the blanket. “I thought you had… people for that.”

“People?” he asked, walking over and settling down next to her on the blanket.

“Yea, people,” she repeated as she leaned onto his chest. “Don’t you have people who cook for you?”

“Sure,” Oliver agreed, “but that doesn’t mean I can’t learn to cook too. Raisa is a great teacher.”

“Ah, so the secret comes out,” she teased, looking up at him with a smile. “Raisa made dinner.”

Oliver laughed as he leaned back on his arm. “Why is it so difficult for you to believe I made this?” he asked. “I did live on my own for five years.”

Felicity tensed a little when he mentioned his time away and Oliver noticed. Wrapping his arms around her a little more tightly, he tried to get her to relax as he gently rubbed her back.

“Well, you’re definitely cooking for me more often,” she finally said as she ran her hand along his chest, feeling the edges of the scaring even through his shirt.

“Felicity, this will be over soon,” he told her. “As soon as I identify Ivanov, it will be done.”

“Why do you have to do it?” she asked, leaning up to look at his face.

“Because I’m the only one who has ever seen him,” he replied, reaching up to gently caress her face. “Russian Ghost, remember?”

Felicity nodded slowly as she put her chin on his chest. Oliver could see she was still tense about the whole situation so he gently rolled onto his side, bringing Felicity with him as he cradled her face in his hands. As he leaned down to kiss her, her hands slid along his side until they made their way to his back. Bringing his hand down from her face, Oliver slid it down to the small of her back, pulling her closer. When he felt her leg slide up to his hip, he groaned and pushed her farther onto her back as he trailed kisses down her jaw to her neck. Felicity moaned when she felt his leg go between hers as she wrapped her foot around his leg.

“Oliver… Maybe we should… take this back to my… apartment.”

“Why?” he murmured against her neck as his hand slid up the back of her shirt, feeling her warm skin against his hand.

“I just…”

Oliver stopped and looked up at her, seeing her almost bashful smile on her face.

“Not outside.”

Oliver smiled at her before reaching up and giving her a quick kiss on the lips. Getting to his knees, he quickly got up, grabbing her hands and pulling her up with ease. It didn’t take them long to pack up the picnic and his camera and soon they were heading back towards town. As they drove down the mountain, Oliver maintained his grip on the wheel, taking the turns with ease. Coming around a particularly sharp curve, Oliver slowed down, making sure to maintain control, but as he came out of the curve, he heard a loud popping sound as the car started to swerve uncontrollably. He tried to keep it on the road, but he had no control of the vehicle. The last thing he remembers hearing is Felicity’s scream as the careened over the guard rail and down the slope.


	8. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver deals with questions raised because of the accident.

The first thing Oliver noticed was that he was being pushed forward. As he opened his eyes he looked around, trying to get his bearings. He was in a car, but the car didn’t feel like it was in the right position. His body was pushed up against his seat belt and the airbag was deflated in front of him. He had a pounding in his head that wouldn’t go away. Looking to his right, he saw that Felicity was leaning forward in her seat belt as well with blood coming from her forehead.

“Felicity…”

Reaching over to her, he quickly felt for her pulse and let out a sigh when he felt it beating strongly. Her airbag was deflated as well, but it seemed to do its job well. He didn’t see any other obvious injuries, which he was grateful for.

“Felicity,” he repeated, reaching over to gently shake her. When he heard he groan, he turned back to trying to open his car door. He had to get out. If this was he Bratva’s work, they would be returning to make sure they were dead. They had to be gone before then.

Pushing hard, he managed to get the car door opened as Felicity struggled to regain consciousness. Releasing his seat belt, he caught himself, planting his feet as best he could before reaching over to help her.

“Felicity… honey, you need to wake up,” he told her as he put his hand on her face. As he slowly lifted her head, he saw her eyes slowly open as she tried to look around her.

He knew he didn’t have time to wait for her to wake up fully. Reaching over to her, he pulled her arms around his neck before reaching for her seat belt. When the belt released, he caught her as best he could, quickly reaching his other arm around her waist.

“Come on,” he told her as he felt her grip him a little tighter. Holding her around her waist, he pulled her over to him and finally out of the car. They were on an incline so it was hard to keep his footing. Keeping an arm around her waist, he held the wrist of her arm she had around his neck and tried to support her as best he could on the downward slope. Taking a quick glance back up at the road, he didn’t see anyone looking down, but he didn’t want to risk heading back up. Trying to keep the car between him and the road, he made his way down the slope, being careful not to jostle Felicity too much. When he finally made it to more level ground, he picked her up into his arms and carried her, keeping off of the main roads, but trying to get back to the city. When he finally found a place to keep out of view, he pulled out his phone and let out a relieved sigh to see it was not only functional, but he had plenty of signal. He knew there was only one person he could call.

“John…”

>>>\-------->

He walked into the colonel’s makeshift office and stopped, waiting for his acknowledgement. The colonel was writing something down and the last thing he wanted to do was disrupt him. No, he would wait until his colonel was ready.

“Did you contact the operative in Star City?” he asked, not looking up from his papers.

“Yes, Colonel,” he reported.

“And the problem is taken care of?”

He knew his hesitation wasn’t going to be appreciated, but he couldn’t remember what he was going to say. When the colonel looked up at him, he swallowed hard. Why did he have to do this?

“He was unable to verify the kill,” he said, trying to sound strong.

“And why is that?”

“Other cars stopped at the crash site,” he explained. “Emergency vehicles came quicker than he had expected.”

“I don’t care about spectators!” Ivanov yelled, slamming his hand down on the desk. “I want this taken care of!”

“Yes, Colonel,” he answered.

When the colonel went back to his papers and waved his hand at him, he quickly turned and exited the office. He was glad he hadn’t drawn that assignment.

>>>\-------->

John opened the door of the mansion as he held the phone to his ear and let Oliver walk in carrying an unconscious Felicity. As soon as he stepped foot in the house, Thea was coming around the corner, ready to scold him for worrying them so much. When she saw the blood on his face and the woman he was carrying in his arms, she stopped and looked at him with concern.

“Ollie, what happened?”

Before Oliver could answer, John hung up the phone and addressed him. “They’re on their way.”

“Who is?” Moira asked as she walked into the foyer. When she saw Oliver’s state, she immediately got concerned. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Oliver told them as he turned to head up the stairs. “John will fill you in.”

Looking at John in confusion, the Queen women waited for an explanation. “There was an accident. His car went off the road.”

“Oh my god,” Thea sighed, as she put her hand to her mouth.

“Why didn’t he go to the hospital?” Moira asked. “And who was that woman?”

John tried to gather them up as he directed them to the other room. Looking up the stairs, he watched as Oliver carried Felicity to one of the rooms and disappeared inside. “I’ll try to explain.”

Up in his room, Oliver closed the door with his foot before carrying Felicity over to his bed and gently setting her down. She had lost consciousness right before John had picked them up and he was hoping she’d wake up soon. Walking to his bathroom, he wetted a wash cloth and picked up a first aid kit before heading back over to the bed. Sitting down next to her, he gently moved some hair from her face before starting to wipe off the blood. As soon as the cool cloth touched her forehead, she gasped as her eyes shot wide open.

“Hey, you’re ok,” he said softly, gripping her hand. “I’m here. You’re safe.”

“Where am I?” she asked, looking around frantically.

“At my house,” he told her, trying to calm her down. “They can’t get to us here.”

Felicity’s eyes settled back on his as she looked at him in surprise. “They?”

“The Bratva.”

“You think they did this?” she asked, starting to panic.

“It’s the only explanation,” he said softly as he went back to cleaning up her forehead.

“It wasn’t just an accident?”

Oliver stopped and looked at her seriously. “Something blew out the tires. It wasn’t an accident.”

“Oh my god…” Felicity tried to sit up, but he put his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back down.

“You need to rest,” he told her. “You hit your head pretty hard.”

Felicity reached her hand up to her forehead and winced when she came into contact with the cut that he had been cleaning. When she looked back to him, she saw he had his own cuts that still needed to be looked after.

“You did too.”

“I’m fine.”

Felicity reached up and cupped his face in her hand, causing his eyes to slowly close. “Let me take care of you.”

When he opened his eyes he slowly nodded as he went back to his work. “After I’m done.”

Felicity let him finish cleaning her wound and after he put a couple of butterfly bandages across the cut, she sat up and did the same for him.

“Why do you think we’re safe here?” she asked as she put a bandage on his forehead.

“John called ARGUS,” he explained. “They’re sending some agents over to watch the house.”

Felicity nodded as she finished her work and gently caressed his face. Reaching up, Oliver took her hand and turned it so he could place a soft kiss on the palm of her hand. “I was so worried about you.”

Felicity smiled as he turned back to look at her. “I’m fine,” she told him as she reached up and rubbed her eyes with her fingers. “Just a little… sleepy.”

“You should rest,” he told her as he got up from the bed. “I need to talk to my family anyway.”

Felicity just nodded as she laid back and allowed him to pull her shoes off her feet. Pulling back the covers, he tucked her in as she let out a soft sigh. Reaching over to her, he pulled her glasses off and folded them neatly on the bedside table before leaning over and pressing a gentle kiss on her head.

“I’ll be back.”

The only response he got was a soft “Mmmm” as he turned and walked out of the room. Closing the door quietly, he made his way down the stairs and into the room where John had gathered his family. This was not a discussion he was looking forward to having.

“How is she?” John asked as he stood near the doorway with his arms crossed.

“Resting,” Oliver replied simply, looking into the room and seeing his mother and sister. “Where’s Dad?”

“At work, of course,” Moira replied with distain in her voice.

“Someone should call him,” Oliver suggested as he looked at John. “He’s not safe either.”

“I’ll handle it,” John replied as he turned and walked out of the room, leaving Oliver with two very confused women.

“Oliver, what’s going on?” Moira asked. “Mr. Diggle said you were in a car accident.”

“It wasn’t an accident,” Oliver explained, crossing his arms in front of him. “Someone tried to kill me.”

“What??” Thea almost shot up from where she was sitting, but Moira’s hand on her shoulder kept her seated.

“Why would anyone want to kill you?” Moira asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

Oliver took a breath before beginning his story. “While I was away, I got involved with some… dangerous people. Since I’ve been back I’ve been helping a government agency try to bring them down. They were the ones who caused the car to crash.”

“They’re trying to silence you,” Thea surmised.

“They won’t just try to get to me,” Oliver revealed. “All of you are in danger. They’ll kill every one of you just to get back at me.”

Moira and Thea were visibly shaken with this revelation and Oliver wished he could make it easier.

“Is this why you didn't come home sooner?” Moira asked as she gripped Thea's hand. “They threatened us?”

“They didn't know about you,” Oliver revealed. “They knew me as Jonas Danforth. He doesn't have any family. The only way I could keep you safe was to stay away and make sure he never found out about you.”

“But they obviously know you're... you,” Thea observed. “And now they're coming after all of us.”

“There are government agents guarding the house now,” he explained. “We should be safe if we stay indoors.”

“And how long are we expected to stay in here?” Thea asked, trying not to sound too snarky.

“Until it’s finished,” he said cryptically. “I’m sorry, I don’t know.”

Moira sighed as she gently rubbed her daughter’s back. “We’ll make due.”

“I’m really sorry about this,” Oliver told them as he walked farther into the room. “I was told it was going to be handled better than this. They weren't suppose to find out who I was. No one was suppose to get hurt.”

“So, why did you come back?” Thea asked before getting a scolding look from her mother. “No, I don't mean to sound mean or anything, but now these people are after us. Something must have made him want to come home after all this time.”

Oliver smiled a little as he looked down at his shoes. “I met someone,” he explained. “She made me want to come home again.”

“I assume that was the woman you brought upstairs,” Moira concluded.

Oliver nodded as he looked at his family again. “Felicity. If it wasn't for her, I'd probably not be here right now. She made me want to come home.”

“She means a lot to you, doesn't she?” Moira observed.

“More than she knows.”

>>>\-------->

Oliver was as quiet as he could be as he opened the door to his room. He expected to find Felicity still resting on his bed, but as he looked in, he found no sign of her. He started to panic until he heard the sound of the shower in his bathroom going. Letting out a sigh of relief, he closed the door and walked over to the bed, flopping back on it with his arms spread. He knew he must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew Felicity was coming out of the bathroom with wet hair wearing one of his t-shirts.

“Oh… you’re back,” she stammered, trying to make sure she was covered up as he sat up on the bed. “I just… wanted to clean up. I um… didn’t have anything clean to wear.”

“Uh… that’s… ok,” he managed to get out, impressed he could say anything seeing her wearing his clothes.

“I need to pick up some clothes.”

“Yeah…” Getting up from the bed, he laughed lightly as he scratched the back of his head. “About that…”

Felicity let her shoulders drop as she looked over at him. “I can’t go home?”

“Not until Ivanov is off the board,” he told her. “It’s too dangerous.”

“I don’t mean to sound… indelicate, but… he’s not after me. He’s after you.”

Oliver shook his head as he walked over to her. “Whoever caused the car to go off the road saw us together,” he explained. “Surveillance first, then the hit. I’m sorry, but… he will use you against me. I know how he thinks.”

Felicity sighed as she walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, dropping her shoulders in frustration. He smiled a little when he saw her reaction. “Yeah, my mom and sister felt the same way.”

At the mention of his family Felicity shot up from the bed, holding the shirt down as she went. “Oh god, I forgot about them. I can’t… I can’t stay here.”

Walking over to her, Oliver gently put his hands on her arms. “Felicity, it’s ok. They understand.”

“They do?”

“Yes.” Oliver looked at his grimy hands on her nice clean arms and quickly pulled away. “I need to go clean up.”

Felicity just nodded as he turned and walked into his closet and retrieved some clothes before going into the bathroom. When she heard the shower start, she looked around, trying to figure out what she should do. She was still very tired, but being in Oliver’s house was making her a little nervous. This was his house… and his bed… and his family was here…

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she couldn’t help but get sleepy as she had her internal debate. Eventually her eyes drooped closed as she slowly leaned over and fell asleep. That was how Oliver found her when he came out of the bathroom wearing sweatpants. Shaking his head and laughing lightly, he walked over to her and pulled her legs up, pushing them up and under the covers. The movement caused her to stir as she groaned a little and opened her eyes.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Oliver told her as he sat down on the edge of the bed. She gave him a smile as he brushed the hair from her face.

“I wasn’t really asleep,” she said sleepily. “I wasn’t really sure where I should go to sleep. I mean, I know I took a nap here earlier, but with your family being here and with what was going on, I just wasn’t sure if I should find another room or-”

“Do you want to sleep somewhere else?” Oliver interrupted as he drew his hand down her arm.

“Not really,” she admitted with a smile as she reached up and ran her hand along his arm. “I just wasn’t sure because of your parents and sister being down the hall. Oh, and the Russian mob trying to kill us.” Letting out a sigh, she closed her eyes and rubbed her hand over them. “I should have just done it on the blanket.”

Oliver laughed lightly as he leaned down and started kissing her arm. “You should sleep,” he told her before pulling back up and giving her a smile. “You’ve had a long day.”

“Yeah…” Pulling her hand away from her face, she gave him a smile and reached up for his shoulders, pulling him down next to her. “We both have.”

Oliver reached over and slid the covers back enough so that he could get underneath them. Once he was settled, Felicity reached over and snuggled in next to him, throwing an arm across his chest. Oliver rubbed her arm gently as he leaned over to kiss the top of her head. He would normally be concerned about someone sleeping right next to him, but he knows that for some reason Felicity makes his nightmares go away. He just sleeps better with her next to him.

“Good night, Felicity,” he said softly.

Felicity let out a soft sigh as she melted into him. “Good night.”


	9. Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They thought they were safe at the Queen mansion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a little shorter, but I'll make up for it soon.

When Felicity woke, she found that Oliver had already gotten up. Still not sure of what she should wear, she strode over to his closet, looking for anything that might be a good cover-up. She found another pair of sweatpants, but she knew she’d never get those tight around her. She was just about to give up when she heard a soft knock on the door. Sticking her head out of the closet, she saw Oliver’s sister sticking her head into the room, looking around as if trying to find someone. When Felicity stepped out of the closet, Thea spotted her and smiled.

“Ollie said you didn’t have anything to wear,” she revealed. “I don’t know if any of my clothes will fit you, but I brought a few things for you to try.”

Felicity smiled at the thoughtfulness of Oliver and Thea. She could tell that she and Thea weren’t that different in size, but she still might not fit into some of her clothes. “Thank you.”

Thea smiled as she looked at what Felicity was wearing. “You may want to consider keeping that shirt on though,” she suggested. “It will drive Ollie crazy.”

Felicity smiling knowingly as she gave Thea a nod. She’d have to go fetch some of her own clothes if she was going to be remaining at the mansion. She couldn’t keep borrowing things from Thea.

“Come down to the kitchen when you’re done,” Thea told her as she started walking towards the door.

Before she got a chance to leave, Felicity spoke up. “Where’s the kitchen?”

Thea grabbed onto the door handle and gave her an understanding smile. “Down the stairs. To the left. Keep walking until you smell breakfast.”

With that, Thea closed the door and let Felicity get dressed. As she looked over the assortment of clothes, she pulled out a pair of sweatpants that looked big enough to fit. A smile came over her face as she thought of having breakfast with Oliver and his family. Maybe staying there wouldn’t be so bad after all.

>>>\-------->

“You know that's not what she meant.”

Felicity could hear Thea's voice as she came down the hall. There appeared to be a very lively conversation going on between the siblings in the kitchen.

“How was I suppose to know that?” Oliver asked. “I was 17! I was just trying to get my work out there.”

“Ollie, a woman in her twenties isn't just going to ask a teenager to take her picture... like that... unless she wants something,” Thea explained, causing Felicity's eyebrows to raise in curiosity. As she walked into the kitchen, she could see Oliver by the stove and Thea sitting on a stool near the central island.

“I just thought it was her way of making sure I was the one who took the pictures,” Oliver told her, looking at his sister suspiciously. “And how would you know? You were like... 7.”

“I didn't know at the time, but Mom might have mentioned it while you were gone. She may have put up with you and your teenage girlfriends, but that woman was not something she was going to let happen.”

“Mom did that?” Oliver asked, turning back to the stove. “I thought she just changed her mind because she found out I was 17.”

Thea laughed as she took a sip of her coffee. “Um... no.”

Felicity sat next to Thea as the younger Queen gave her a smile, looking at her choice of attire. “We were just reminiscing about Ollie’s younger days,” Thea explained as she slid a leather bound book over to her. “Apparently he wanted you to see these.”

Felicity opened the book curiously before opening it up. A smile came over her face as she looked to see some of his photographs laid out in front of her.

“When were these taken?” she asked as Oliver walked over with a mug of coffee and set it down in front of her before leaning down and stealing a quick kiss. He lingered a little more than he probably should have, but seeing her still wearing his t-shirt made him want to just carry her back upstairs.

“That was my first portfolio,” Oliver explained before he walked back over to the stove. “I’d say… between 17 and 20.”

Felicity flipped through the pages and just shook her head. Even at a young age Oliver had been able to take such amazing pictures.

“Ollie had been trying to convince an art gallery to display some of his pictures,” Thea explained. “The curator was a woman in her late twenties and she said she would display them if he took pictures of her.”

Felicity looked at Thea in confusion as she took a sip of her coffee. “That sounds… odd.”

“That wasn’t the odd part,” Thea continued. “She wanted him to take... shall we say... clothing optional pictures of her.”

“And he was 17?” she asked as she took a sip of her coffee.

Thea just nodded as she held her mug up to her face. “Of course, he got noticed a lot being Oliver Queen and all. He had kind of a... reputation.”

Felicity looked over at Oliver, expecting him to feel anxious about how Thea was talking about him, but he seemed to be taking it in strides.

“I guess that's how you learned about the paparazzi,” she recalled, causing Oliver to turn to her and give her a smile and a wink.

“So, the way I hear the story goes is that he went to this gallery and the curator brought him into her office to take a look at his portfolio. Then she said she would display some of his pictures if he took pictures of her.”

“She did seem interested in my actual photos,” Oliver explained as he put some food on the plates. “She looked through them and I really thought she was interested. When she asked me to take her picture, I just really thought she liked what she had seen.”

“Oh, I think she liked what she saw alright,” Thea remarked, hiding her face behind her mug a little. “Oliver Queen had walked into her gallery and was asking something of her. Why not get something in return? She obviously had read the papers.”

“And she had to have known I was 17,” Oliver explained as he brought over the plates to the women. “All I was thinking about was being able to display my pictures. I really wasn't interested in her at all. She just seemed... too old.”

Felicity just about spit her coffee out when she heard him. “Twenties is too old??”

“It is when you're 17.”

As Oliver set the plates in front of them, both Thea and Felicity felt their mouths starting to water in anticipation. Set before them was perfectly presented eggs Benedict.

“Oliver, this looks amazing!” Felicity praised as she cut into her meal. A moan of approval from Thea caused Oliver to let out a small laugh.

“You are so cooking for us more often,” Thea told him as she greedily ate her breakfast. “Did you know he could cook?”

“I just found out yesterday,” Felicity revealed as she let out a sigh of approval after she eating her first bite. Once Oliver saw she was enjoying it, he went back and finished with the stove.

“Thank you for the clothes,” Felicity told Thea, “but I really do need to get some of my own things if I have to stay here for a while.” Felicity could see the muscles in Oliver's back tense when she mentioned having to go out. 

Oliver looked at her with concern before going back to cleaning up after his cooking. He didn't like the idea of her going out, but he knew she wouldn't be comfortable being there without some of her things.

“I'll see what I can arrange with ARGUS,” he told her before walking back over and putting his hands on her hips as he leaned over her from behind. Felicity felt shivers go down her spine as he leaned close to whisper in her ear. “Maybe they can send someone to get your things, but I love it when you wear my clothes.”

“And on that note,” Thea said loudly as she jumped up from her stool. “Thanks for breakfast, big bro.” Giving him a playful slap on the back, Thea quickly left the kitchen leaving Oliver and Felicity alone. With one quick flip, Oliver spun the stool around so that he was standing in front of her. Forcing her legs around him, he stepped forward as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

“We never got to finish our date from last night,” he reminded her as he slid his hands around her waist.

Felicity smiled up at him as she tightened her legs around him. “What did you have in mind?”

Oliver just smiled as he leaned down to kiss her. She tasted like coffee and morning breakfast and he couldn't be happier. Reaching his hands lower on her, he wrapped his arms around her fully and quickly picked her up, causing her to let out a gasp as she quickly moved her arms to around his neck.

“I say we continue this upstairs,” he suggested as she leaned down to kiss his jaw.

“That's a really good idea.” Felicity brought her kisses back to his mouth as he started to walk them out of the kitchen. The sound of the kitchen door bursting open caught both of their attentions as one of the agents guarding the house walked inside. It only took Oliver a moment to realize that the man who had come into the house didn't work for ARGUS. He worked for Ivanov. As he raised his weapon and pointed at them, Oliver ran through the kitchen door and into the hallway. Wood splintered around them as shots rang out. Putting Felicity back on the ground, he indicated down the hallway.

“Back upstairs!” he shouted, giving her a little push. “Find Thea and my mother. Get to safety!”

Felicity was about to complain until another shot rang out, causing both of them to crouch down, Oliver pulling Felicity closer so he could protect her with his body. When the man came through the door, Oliver jumped up and quickly disarmed him, causing the other man to start throwing punches. Oliver was able to dodge most of them and quickly got the upper hand. He eventually got his arms wrapped around the man's neck as he fell to his knees.

“No one attacks my family!” he hissed before twisting his arms and breaking the man's neck. When he felt him go limp in his arms, he dropped the man to the floor and picked up his weapon before rushing over to Felicity. She was looking at the dead man in shock when he got to her, but he couldn't worry about that now. He had to get her somewhere safe.

Pushing the weapon into his waistband, Oliver wrapped his arms around her shoulders and quickly got her to her feet as they made their way into the foyer. Just as they appeared, the front door shot open. Fearing another attack, Oliver, pushed Felicity behind him and grabbed the weapon from his waistband, holding in on the would-be attacker. When he saw that the man who had entered was John, holding his weapon at the ready, he relaxed and lowered his weapon.

“I heard gunshots,” John explained as he quickly surveyed the scene.

“Back there,” Oliver explained as he put the weapon back into his waistband. “But there may be more. We need to get them out of here.”

“I'll take Felicity,” John told him. “Get your family.”

Felicity gave him a reassuring look and squeeze of his arm before quickly walking over to John. Once they were out of the house, Oliver ran up the stairs to collect his sister and mother.

“He just burst through the back door,” Felicity was telling John as a large SUV pulled up to the house. “Where was the ARGUS agent?”

“Dead,” John explained as he helped Felicity into the car. Looking back to the house, it wasn't long before Oliver came out, ushering his mom and sister in front of him.

“Oliver, slow down,” Moira was saying as Oliver tried to get them to move faster. Once they got to the car, Oliver turned and surveyed the area, looking for any signs of other assassins.

“Did someone go to QC for my father?” Oliver asked John.

“We called his guard when the shots started,” John explained as he helped Thea and Moira into the car. “They should be able to meet us at the safe house.”

On hearing the back door close, Oliver grabbed the front passenger door and climbed in, still looking around for any other Bratva operatives. Even as John walked over and relieved the agent who was driving, he was on constant vigilance. Even with all of the protection from ARGUS, they had still been able to get to them. Oliver knew it was time to end this once and for all.


	10. The Algorithm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and his family go into hiding, but they still need to find Ivanov. Felicity puts her brains on the task and gets herself into more trouble.

John opened the door to the safe house slowly, making sure there were no surprises waiting for them inside. He had seen the other ARGUS vehicle in the driveway and he assumed it was for Oliver’s father, but until he saw a familiar face, he wasn’t taking any chances. Walking into the foyer, he held his weapon at the ready as he surveyed the area. When he saw Robert Queen and an ARGUS agent sitting in the living room, he lowered his weapon and let out a sigh. When Robert heard the footsteps, he turned and stood up asking, “Where is my family?”

“It’s clear,” John said into the radio he pulled out from his coat pocket. Within a minute, they heard the front door opening as Robert got up and walked into the foyer. When Thea and Moira saw him, they quickly ran over, falling into his open arms.

“Are you alright?” he asked, kissing Thea on the head and holding both of them close.

“We’re fine,” Moira told him as Oliver walked into the house arm-in-arm with Felicity. When Robert saw the woman holding on to Oliver, he frowned in confusion, especially when he saw her wearing Oliver’s shirt. Seeing his confused expression, Oliver cleared his throat and moved his arm so he could take Felicity’s hand in his.

“Dad, this is Felicity,” he introduced.

A look of understanding came over his face as Thea and Moira pulled back. “The woman from the car accident,” he remarked. “Your mother told me about it last night. Are you both alright?”

Oliver looked down at Felicity and squeezed her hand tightly. “We are now.”

Felicity gave him a warm smile as she leaned into him. When she looked over to Robert, she could see the knowing look on his face as he gave her a smile. She had met Robert Queen before during her time at QC, but she doubted he remembered her. She had to admit to feeling slightly intimidated by having to stay at the same safe house as the CEO of the company for which she worked, but she figured that’s what she got for dating the CEO’s son.

“So, what happened?” Robert asked, looking between Moira and Oliver for some sort of answers.

Oliver let out a sigh as he wrapped his arm around Felicity’s waist. He hadn’t gotten a chance to tell his father the whole story and now it was even more complicated. “It’s a long story.”

>>>\-------->

Colonel Ivanov slammed his hand on his desk with as much anger as he’d ever felt. How could he be surrounded by such incompetent fools? This was not how he trained his operatives. There was no excuse. He was one man. How hard was it to kill one man?

“I don’t want to hear excuses,” he hissed, looking up at the man standing before his desk. “We are the Bratva! Just our name strikes fear in our enemies but now they are laughing at us!”

“They weren’t expecting so many ARGUS agents,” the man tried to explain. “They-“

“No more excuses!” the colonel yelled again. “He is one man!”

“Sir, he was trained by the Bratva,” the man offered. “He knows our ways. He anticipates our every move.”

Colonel Ivanov took a deep breath as he sat back down at his desk. He was right. It was different going up against Jonas. He had been the best of them. He knew their normal way of doing things wasn’t going to work against this adversary.

“Go to Starling City,” he instructed. “I have a new task for you.”

>>>\-------->

Oliver let out a sigh of frustration as he leaned back onto the couch. He knew it couldn’t be that easy. Nothing in his life could ever be easy.

For the past half hour, Oliver had sat in the living room, going through the photographs of the victims of the Bratva headquarter attack on the laptop supplied by ARGUS. He was suppose to identify Colonel Ivanov, but after going through the pictures twice, Oliver confirmed what he had already known.

“He’s not here.”

“Are you sure?” John asked as Oliver got up from the couch and started to pace. “Some of those bodies are hard to identify.”

“I’m sure,” Oliver told him as he let out a sigh. “It was pretty obvious that he survived when the attacks started. He’s the only one who would come after me like this. These just confirm it.”

“So now what?” Felicity asked as she closed the laptop and leaned back onto the couch. 

“I don’t know,” Oliver revealed as he ran his hands across his head. “He knows ARGUS is after him now and he knows about me. ARGUS won’t be able to find him again. He’ll find a new location to setup his operations. One that I don’t know about.”

“Maybe I can help with that,” Felicity offered, causing Oliver to look at her in confusion. “When John told me about his theory that you were part of the Bratva, I started doing my own research. I created an algorithm to predict where Bratva cells could be hiding, but without specific details on where the actual hiding places were, I couldn’t confirm my results. Then when you told ARGUS where Ivanov’s headquarters was, I checked it against my algorithm and it matched.”

“Why didn’t you tell ARGUS this?” John asked, sounding a little annoyed. “And how did you know what Oliver had told us?”

Felicity gave John a smug smirk before saying, “I have access to the ARGUS mainframe. It wasn’t hard to find out where Oliver had told them. And as for why I didn’t share my algorithm…” Felicity looked between John and Oliver before letting out a sigh. “I didn’t want them to hurt Oliver,” she revealed. “If you were right and Oliver was part of the Bratva, I wanted to find him before they did because I knew they wouldn’t understand. They’d just see him as a Bratva operative and not the man that I knew.” Felicity looked up at Oliver to see a look of compassion on his face. “I didn’t want to see you get hurt.”

Walking back over to the couch, Oliver sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close as he placed a soft kiss on her temple. He didn’t know what he had done to deserve someone like her in his life, but he was so grateful that he had her.

“Do you think this algorithm could predict where Ivanov might be hiding?” Oliver asked.

“Possibly,” Felicity answered. “But I won’t be able to find out unless I can go back to my apartment.”

Oliver groaned and John shifted uncomfortably in his chair. She knew they wouldn’t like hearing that, but there was no choice.

“I kept the algorithm on an external hard drive,” she explained. “I didn’t want ARGUS to get their hands on it so I kept it separate. It’s hidden in my apartment.”

“I’ll send some ARGUS agents to recover it,” John explained as he got up from his chair and reached for his phone. He was just about to dial when Felicity spoke up.

“You can’t,” she told him as she looked up at him. “The hard drive is locked biometrically. If you try to remove it from my apartment without me disabling the lock, it will automatically erase itself.”

John looked at her in surprise as she just shrugged. “I really didn’t want ARGUS to get it.”

Oliver sighed as he reached over to grip her hand. “Felicity, it’s not safe. They’re probably watching the apartment.”

“I know,” she revealed, giving him a soft smile. “But we need to find him and this program is our best shot.”

“Then I’m going with you.”

“Absolutely not!” This time it was John who spoke up causing both Oliver and Felicity to look at him in surprise. “You just told her how dangerous it was for her to be going. There is no way ARGUS is going to let you go.”

“I can take care of myself,” Oliver insisted.

“Like you did at your house?” John countered as he crossed his arms in front of him.

“ARGUS was suppose to be guarding the house,” Oliver spat, getting more irate as the conversation went on. “They shouldn’t have even been able to get in! ARGUS said they’d protect my family! If you seriously think I’m going to let Felicity leave without me…”

“Stop it, both of you!” Felicity interjected, looking between the two men. Reaching up to Oliver’s face, she slowly directed him back to looking at her. “John’s right,” she told him causing him to tense up. “You going will just cause a bigger target. They want you dead. I’m not going to let you take that risk.”

“But you’re willing to risk yourself?” he asked her, reaching out to grasp her hand tightly. “Felicity, I can’t… I can’t lose you.”

Felicity smiled as she reached up to cup his face. “I’ll be fine,” she reassured him. “I’ll be in and out in no time. You won’t even know I’m gone.”

Oliver sighed as he leaned in to press a quick kiss onto her lips. “I find that impossible to believe.”

>>>\-------->

He watched the apartment carefully even though he knew the possibility was remote that she would return. The fiasco at the Queen mansion had sent the entire family into hiding and no one had been able to find them. ARGUS was surely helping them. There would be no reason for her to return to her home. His assignment was pointless.

Letting out a breath, he settled down against the rooftop wall, just listening for oncoming traffic. Every time he would hear a car, he’d pull up his binoculars and watch, but so far, no one had come. When he heard the telltale sounds of a vehicle approaching, he almost didn’t look. Groaning a little as he turned, he looked down on the street and froze. The car had stopped right outside of the building he had been watching. Pulling the binoculars to his face, he watched as a man got out of the driver’s door and looked around cautiously. Obviously he was an ARGUS agent. When he saw the man disappear into the building, he waited, looking for any sign of his target. As the man reappeared, he watched as he went to the back door of the vehicle and opened it up. When he saw the blond woman emerge, he quickly dropped the binoculars and left his hiding place. His captain was going to reward him for sure.

>>>\-------->

“It’s all clear, ma’am.”

Felicity cringed as she climbed out of the back of the sedan. “Don’t call me ma’am,” she told him as she carefully looked around. She knew the agents had checked the area already, but she was still nervous.

“You have two minutes,” the agent told her as she quickly made her way to the apartment door. He had already opened it up and checked inside so she knew it was safe. Quickly walking into the apartment, she walked into her spare bedroom that doubled as a computer room. Walking up to a small table in the room, she smiled as she looked at the picture that adorned the top of it. She had printed out one of the pictures from Bali and framed it. She kept it in this back room because no one came in there. It was the one place she could be reminded of their time together.

Pulling the small drawer out of the table, she dumped the contents onto the floor before sitting down on the floor with the drawer on her lap. She had gotten this drawer specially made by someone who designs puzzle boxes. She quickly slid some well-hidden pieces around, eventually revealing a small opening. Using her finger, she used the opening to pry up the bottom of the drawer, revealing a compact external hard-drive with a biometric scanner on the top. Pressing her finger on the red-colored scanner, she waited a few seconds as the drive scanned her finger. The scanner had just turned green when she heard a noise coming from the other room.

Felicity’s heart rate shot up as she looked to the open door. She wanted to call out, but what if it wasn’t her ARGUS security that had made the noise. Carefully putting the bottom back onto the drawer, she slid the puzzle pieces back into place before quietly putting the drawer back into the table. She had just gotten up when she heard someone walking down the hallway towards her. Looking at the picture on the table, she quickly made a decision and laid the picture face down before grabbing the first heavy thing she could find. Holding a hard-covered programming book in her hands, she quietly walked over to stand next to the door opening as her heart pounded loudly in her chest. She knew it could just be the ARGUS agent and if it was, she would apologize profusely, but it would be his own fault for sneaking up unannounced.

As the footsteps got closer, she gripped the book tightly. She heard her bedroom door creak open and she considered making a run for the hallway. Risking a quick glance out, she saw the man, dressed in black, looking around her bedroom. When he crouched down to check under her bed, she decided it was time to move. Dropping the book on the floor, she quickly made her way out of the bedroom and down the hall just as she heard the man from her other bedroom start to run. When she got out to her living room, she stopped when she saw the ARGUS agent laying on her living room floor. She didn’t know if he was dead or alive, but she didn’t have time to check. She had just started moving again when she felt someone grab her arm from behind. She tried to wrench it free, but his grip was too strong. He managed to pull her back towards him gripping both arms tightly as she struggled to get free.

“Let me go!” she shouted as she twisted her arms furiously. She tried to kick at him, but that just managed to make her lose her footing as she stumbled to her knees. Once she was down, she felt him push her to the floor, face first as she felt his knee on her back. As she continued to struggle, he twisted one of her arms in a way that made her wince and shout out in pain. Any further movement would cause even more pain to shoot through her arm. When she felt the pinch of a syringe go into her arm, she tried to pull away, but in just a few seconds, she felt herself start to get sleepy. As the room slipped into darkness, she thought of the look on Oliver’s face when she told him she would be fine. She just hoped that he understood the message she had tried to leave for him.


	11. Endgame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver searches for Felicity and finally comes face to face with the Russian Ghost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to everyone who is reading this! It's been fun going through it. Only one more chapter after this one, but this one is a big one. Time for the Endgame!

Oliver didn’t wait for permission before bursting into her apartment. “Felicity!” he called as he looked around anxiously. It wasn’t like the Bratva to leave people alive, but for some reason, the men who had gone with Felicity to her apartment were not killed. If they had started changing up their tactics, it would be much harder to anticipate their next move.

“Felicity!” Oliver didn’t even notice when John followed him into the apartment. He needed to find her. His heart was beating on overdrive as he walked through the apartment. There were no traces of blood. That had to be a good sign.

“She’s not here, Oliver,” John told him as he watched Oliver zip around the apartment. “We lost contact with her tracker miles from here.”

Oliver had been told this before they had come to the apartment, but he knew she had come there first. Someone had taken her and he needed to find out where she was. He was just hoping she had left some clues behind.

“What do you expect to find here?” John asked as he followed him back to the bedrooms.

“I don’t know,” Oliver revealed as he looked through her bedroom. “Anything. She’s smart. She would have found out some way of getting a message to us.”

Looking around her bedroom, Oliver started getting more and more frustrated. It didn’t even look like she had been in there. As he crossed the hall into the other bedroom, he stopped when he saw the mess that had been dumped on the floor. Walking over to it, he carefully went through the contents, looking for anything that might be a clue.

“Did you find something?” John asked as he crouched down next to Oliver.

“I don’t know,” Oliver told him as he turned over the items. As he continued to look, another ARGUS agent walked in and got John’s attention. Getting up he took one more look at Oliver before turning and walking out of the room. Oliver continued to look at the items on the floor, but quickly came to realize there was nothing there. Looking around the room, his eyes stopped when he saw an over-turned picture frame sitting on a small table. Lifting the frame up, his heart clenched in his chest when he saw the picture of them in Bali. Setting the frame back onto the table in its proper orientation, he looked at the table curiously, noticing the small drawer in it. Opening the drawer, he frowned when he saw it was empty. Looking at the amount of items on the floor, he realized that it would be just the right amount to fill this small drawer. Pulling it out of the table, he looked at the interior closely. When he saw a small piece of wood that looked out of place, he reached in and touched it, noticing that it moved when some force was applied. Oliver sat down on the ground and held the drawer in his lap as he slowly slid the piece around, revealing another slide-able piece. Within a few seconds, he managed to get the puzzle pieces in their proper place as he pried open the bottom of the drawer to reveal the external hard drive. When he saw the green light on the drive a smile came over his face.

“That’s my girl.”

Oliver was just about to call to John when he realized that if ARGUS got their hands on her program, they would send in an assault force and possible risk Felicity’s life. Pulling the drive out of the drawer, he quickly pocketed it and put the drawer back together, sliding it back into its place.

“Any luck in here?” John asked as he walked back into the room.

“Nothing,” Oliver told him as he stood up and looked around. Running his hands over his head, he looked around the room, playing the part of someone who was still frantic.

“Oliver, I know you want to find her,” John told him as he walked over to put his hand on his shoulder. “We all do, but you need to get back into hiding. If they could get to her, they can get to you.”

Oliver nodded and slowly started to walk out of the room, feeling comforted by the weight of the hard drive in his pocket. As soon as he got back to the safe house, he retrieved the laptop and went back to his room. Setting it on the bed and opening it up, he frowned when he saw the password window appear. He knew Felicity wouldn’t have an easy password to crack. Pulling the hard drive from his pocket, he stared at the green light for a moment before coming to a decision. Pulling out the attached USB cable, he plugged it into the laptop and held his breath. The activity light on the drive started pulsing rapidly and in no time, the laptop came to life. Without him having to do anything, the computer unlocked and brought up the program in question. A graphical map of the possible Bratva locations appeared on the screen before him, each one labeled with a different icon indicating the different Bratva cells. He immediately recognized some of the locations and smiled, knowing that Felicity’s program was working perfectly. When he determined which of the icons was Ivanov’s cell, he looked through the possible locations, recognizing all but one. Writing down the location, he disconnected the hard drive, causing the computer to revert back to its original locked condition. Grabbing a bag from the closet, he started to pack his things. He didn’t have much time and he had to get to Russia.

>>>\-------->

Felicity didn’t know where she was. All she knew was that she was sitting in probably the most uncomfortable chair known to man with her hands bound behind her back. The room was dark and she had woken up with a severe cramp in her neck. She was cold and hungry and she had no idea how long she had been there. Based on the pain she felt in her shoulders and neck, she knew it must have been a while.

There was very little light in the room where she sat. A line of small windows above her was the only source of light. It only allowed her to see that she was in a fairly large room with boxes lined up along one side. It was obviously a warehouse of some sort, but the labels on the boxes were not in English. Letting out a groan, she came to an uncomfortable realization.

“Russia.”

She was just starting to get a feel for the layout of the room when a bright light came on from overhead, causing her to close her eyes. She heard a metal door being opened as footsteps came closer. She blinked a few times, trying to get used to the light in her face, but it was no use. She couldn’t see who was there.

“Do you think I could get some water?” she asked. When she didn’t get an answer, she let out a sigh. “Does anybody speak English around here? I really need some water! Obviously you don’t want to kill me, but I might actually die of thirst and then where will you be, huh?”

Felicity squinted again and she could just make out a figure standing in the shadows. She saw this figure wave his arm before she heard footsteps coming towards her. A man appeared from out of the shadows, holding what looked like a military canteen. Holding it up to her mouth, he tipped it up, pouring water into her mouth. Felicity knew much of the water was sliding down her face and onto her clothes, but she didn’t care. She just needed to drink.

The water was warm, but at least it was wet. Way too soon for her liking, the canteen was pulled back as the man once again disappeared into the shadows.

“Thanks,” she told him, knowing that he probably didn’t understand her anyway. Looking back to the figure she saw before, she squinted, trying to make out any kind of features on him. “Want to tell me why I’m here now?” she asked.

Silence was her only answer as she looked around and tried to figure out anything about the room where she was being kept. “You know, this isn’t like the Bratva,” she said. “I didn’t think you were much into kidnapping. Well, unless you want me to work for you, which of course I won’t because I have a job already and I kind of like it. I don’t really have any useful information either so I guess keeping me alive doesn’t really make much sense because I don’t think you’d have much use for someone like me. I mean, I kind of thought the Bratva was a guy only kind of organization. Unless you’re trying to enlist girls now, which would be both awesome and not because gender equality… yea! But working for the Bratva, not so much.”

Felicity took a deep breath as she stopped her ramble, expecting someone to say something after all of that, but she was still only greeted with silence. If they were trying to get information out of her, they weren’t doing a very good job.

“Is this the way it’s going to be?” she asked. “I don’t speak Russian so if you don’t speak English, we aren’t going to be able to have any kind of useful conversations.”

The sound of the metal door opening again caught Felicity’s attention as another shadowy figure entered the room. She could hear whispering, but couldn’t make out what they were saying. It was most likely in Russian anyway, but she was still curious as to what was going on. She saw the first man nod as the second turned and left the room. Felicity felt a chill go up her back as the man in the shadows started to laugh an evil laugh. Something was going on and she had a feeling, it wasn’t going to be good for her.

>>>\-------->

“What do you mean, he isn’t here?” John asked angrily as one of the ARGUS agents assigned to the safe house informed him of what he had discovered.

“He was here last night,” the agent explained as John headed up the stairs to the room Oliver and Felicity shared, “but when the house was checked this morning, he was gone.”

“I assume he took off his tracker,” John mentioned as he opened the door to the room. When he saw the agent holding Oliver’s tracking band he let out an exasperated sigh. “Great… Just great.”

John looked around the room for any indication of where Oliver might have gone. He should have known that he would go off on his own to try to find Felicity, but one man against the Bratva? Even Oliver wouldn’t be that crazy. Walking over to the bed, he saw the laptop and an external hard drive sitting next to it. John shook his head and smiled as he noticed the green biometric scanner on the drive. Turning on the computer, John plugged in the hard drive and just waited. He really hoped Felicity was as good as he thought she was.

>>>\-------->

Oliver looked down at the warehouse and weighed his options. He recognized the men guarding the entrance as people who worked for Ivanov so he knew he got the right location, but now that he was there, he wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to do. He had to get Felicity out safely, but he had no weapon and the men in the building were trained killers. He couldn’t risk Felicity’s life, but there was no guarantee that she would be safe even if he turned himself in. No, he had to rescue her and take out Ivanov.

Moving from his hiding place, Oliver maneuvered to the side of the building, waiting for his chance. When he saw one of the guards get distracted by a sound, he moved, quickly taking out one of the guards before turning on the other. He managed to get both guards down quietly before retrieving one of their weapons.

Oliver knew he had to move quickly and quietly. He held no love for the Bratva, but he also knew that some of the men working for Ivanov were like Aleksai. They didn’t want to work for the Bratva, but their situation forced their hand. If he could get to Felicity and deal with Ivanov with minimal casualties, then all the better.

The building was nothing more than a standard warehouse. Even in Russia, warehouses were the same as every other country. Scattered rooms along the edge and then a larger storage area at the back. Oliver moved quickly, but silently along the offices, occasionally looking in the windows on the doors to look for any sign of Felicity or Ivanov. So far, all he saw were Bratva soldiers.

One of the last places he needed to check was the actual warehouse itself. The window on that door was smaller and as he glanced in, he saw it was pretty dark. He wasn’t going to be able to get a good view of what was in there unless he opened the door. Gripping his weapon tightly, he slowly turned the handle on the door, trying to make as little noise as possible. Once the latch cleared, he swung it open slowly as he made his way inside.

Closing the door behind him, Oliver waited until his eyes adjusted to the darkened room before making his way farther in. There were boxes along the walls, marked with Russian lettering. Using one of the boxes for protection, he glanced around it and saw someone sitting near the center of the room. His heart sped up a bit when he saw a flash of blond hair.

“Felicity…”

Felicity woke from her restless slumber when she heard the door creak open. She tightly closed her eyes, waiting for the bright light to again shine in her face. When she heard the footsteps coming closer, she risked opening her eyes and was surprised to see that the light had not been turned on. She tensed when she heard footsteps coming up behind her, not knowing what was going to happen. The feeling of someone freeing her hands caught her off guard as she turned around and saw a familiar face.

“Oliver??”

He had just finished untying her hands when he heard her say his name. Looking up at her, he let out a sigh of relief before standing and pulling her into his arms. It took Felicity a couple of seconds to realize that he was in fact real, but when she did, she wrapped her arms around him tightly as she began to sob.

“How did you find me?” she asked quietly.

“I found your hard drive,” he revealed. “You were right. It led me right to you.” Oliver could have stayed there all day, just holding her, but he knew it still wasn’t safe. He still wanted to take care of Ivanov, but his priority was to get Felicity to safety.

“Come on,” he said, taking her hand as he started to lead her out of the room. They had only taken a couple of steps when the bright light turned on, causing momentary blindness for both of them. The sound of the metal door opening got Oliver’s attention and even though he still could not see, he could hear the approaching men. Shielding Felicity behind him, he raised his weapon and fired before grabbing Felicity and running out of the blinding light’s beam. Once out of the light, his eyes started being able to focus again as he pulled Felicity into the shelter of the wooden boxes.

“There’s no way out, Jonas.”

Oliver recognized the voice as his hand tightened around Felicity’s. It wasn’t often that the colonel spoke English. He knew he was doing it for Felicity’s benefit. He wanted to scare her.

“You betrayed us,” he continued. “You betrayed your family.”

“My family is in Starling City,” Oliver countered before moving them to another area in the room. He knew that speaking would give them a location and he needed to keep ahead of them. When he heard the gunshots ring out and saw splintering wood, he knew he had made the right decision to move.

“Your family abandoned you,” the colonel continued. “I gave you shelter… clothing… a purpose in life.”

“You turned me into a killer!”

Again the shots rang out, but again Oliver had moved them before they had a chance to find their true location.

The room fell silent for a few moments as Felicity tried to calm her frantically beating heart. She almost felt like she was going to give away their position by how loud it was pounding.

“Step into the light, Jonas,” the colonel ordered. “Do this… and I will let her go.”

Felicity’s grip on his hand tightened as she looked up at him with concern. When he looked down at her, she shook her head furiously, making sure he knew she wouldn’t allow him to leave.

“Somehow I doubt that,” Oliver countered. This time when they moved there was no sound of gunfire. It was surprising to Oliver, but he didn’t have time to over think it. “What about my family?”

“Oliver, no,” Felicity said quietly.

“They will not be harmed,” the colonel informed him.

Oliver knew they were running out of options. He knew that he could hold is own against any Bratva operative, but he was hindered by having to protect Felicity. He knew how important family was to the Bratva and he had to trust that Ivanov would keep his word. All Ivanov really wanted was him. He had to save them.

When she felt Oliver start to move away from her, Felicity grabbed onto his arm and pulled him back, forcing him to look at her. He could see the fear in her eyes, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had to protect her and his family at all cost.

“Oliver, please,” she begged as a tear rolled down her face. “Please don’t do this.”

“He’ll keep his word,” Oliver told her. “All he wants is me. You’ll be safe. My family will be safe.”

“But you won’t be,” she reminded him, holding onto his arm tightly.

Oliver gave her a warm smile as he reached up to gently cup her face. “Felicity, I don’t know what will happen to me,” he told her, “but I do know two things. I will do anything… anything… to keep you and my family safe.”

Leaning down to her, he gently kissed her forehead before pulling back from her.

“And the second?” she asked, looking up at him expectantly.

Oliver sighed as he pulled her hand up and gently kissed it. “I love you.”

Felicity gasped lightly as he turned and started heading towards the light. She held onto his arm as he walked into the light, not letting go until a soldier walked up to them and grabbed onto her arm. Oliver tensed as he watched the soldier, but it was clear he was being gentle and yet forceful. Gripping her hand in his, he gently pried her hand from him, allowing the soldier to pull her away.

“No!” she shouted as she tried to break away from the man pulling her out of the light. “Let me… let me go!” She tried to wrench her arm free, but his grip on her was too tight. “Oliver, no!”

Oliver squinted as he turned to face the bright beam. He couldn’t see anyone around him, but he knew they were there. Bending down, he gently put the weapon on to the ground before standing back up and holding his hands up.

“I’m glad we could come to an agreement, Jonas,” Ivanov sneered.

“You will leave my family alone,” Oliver reminded him.

“As long as you keep your end of the bargain,” Ivanov told him, causing Oliver to frown. “You will provide any and all information that you have about the American organization known as ARGUS. You will tell us where we can find them so that we can repay them for what they did to us.”

Oliver felt his heart sink. He didn’t realize betraying his own country was part of the deal. Now he knew he had no choice. He wouldn’t make it through this alive.

He heard Felicity scream “NO!!” one more time before the sounds of gunfire caught his attention. He knew the soldiers would be distracted by the commotion so as quickly as he could, he bent down and retrieved his weapon, pointing it up and shooting out the offending light. He heard the door slam open as more gunfire filled the room. His eyes quickly adjusted to the low lighting as he found Felicity still struggling with the man holding her arm. Raising his weapon, he aimed carefully, shooting the man holding her as he fell back, releasing her arm. Running over to her, he shielded Felicity from any other gunfire. Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention as he saw someone in the shadows heading for the far wall. He was torn as to what he should do, knowing that he had to protect Felicity, but also not wanting Ivanov to get away. He had just resigned to staying with Felicity when a familiar voice filled the room.

“Felicity? Oliver?”

“John!” Felicity smiled as she saw John Diggle walking into the room with his weapon raised. When Oliver turned to see him, he quickly pulled Felicity over to John, placing a soft kiss on her cheek. He knew what he had to do.

“Take care of her,” Oliver instructed as he started to pull away. Before he was able to release his grasp on her, Felicity pulled him back as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I love you,” she whispered, causing Oliver to wrap his arm around her and hold her close. When he pulled back, he leaned down and placed a warm kiss on her lips before giving her a reassuring smile.

“I’ll be back.”

“You better be.”

With one last squeeze of her hand, Oliver was off, running towards where he had seen the shadowed figure going. When he reached the other side of the room, he saw a small door behind some boxes that he hadn’t noticed before. Pausing slightly, he took a deep breath before kicking the door open. A shot rang out as he plastered his back against the wall. Once the shooting stopped, he cautiously looked through the door with his weapon at the ready. When he saw the coast was clear, he walked through the doorway and into a long hall.

Oliver could still hear gunfire going off in the distance. ARGUS was being efficient at neutralizing the threat, but he knew Ivanov was his. Walking cautiously along the corridor, Oliver glanced into various room, looking for any sign of his target. He knew the colonel would be looking for a way out and unfortunately Oliver wasn’t that familiar with this particular building. All he knew was what he discovered on entering in the first place. When he came to an intersection, he paused. Taking a deep breath, he quickly glanced around the corner only to hear a gunshot go off. He was able to pull his head back before it made contact, but the bullet impacted the wall just opposite of him. He knew he was getting closer, but all of this ducking around was costing him time. Squatting down he again cautiously looked around the corner, holding his weapon at the ready. When he didn’t see anyone, he slowly got up and walked down the hall, always ready for any possible encounter. At the next intersection, he stopped when he heard footsteps coming his way. When he saw the front end of a rifle enter his view, he quickly reached out and grabbed the weapon, momentarily startling the man who was carrying it. With one quick thrust of the weapon back into the soldier’s face, Oliver managed to effectively knock him out. Another soldier came out of a nearby room and aimed his rifle at Oliver, but Oliver was quicker than him and ducked before the shots ran out. Raising his own weapon, Oliver fired one shot, hitting the man in the arm, causing him to drop his weapon. Oliver was quickly upon him, swinging his weapon at the soldier’s head and knocking him out with one quick blow.

The sound of a door opening caught Oliver’s attention as he looked up to see sunlight streaming in through the opening. Cursing to himself, he ran down the hallway towards the door. In the distance he could hear the sound of helicopter blades spinning in the air. Ivanov was getting away and he couldn’t let that happen.

Bursting through the door, Oliver was surprised when a shot rang out, catching him in his left shoulder. The force of the shot knocked him off of his feet. From the prone position, he raised his own weapon and fired at the man shooting at him from the helicopter. The man slumped down in his seat, dropping the rifle to the ground. Bringing his hand up to his shoulder, Oliver winced as he tried to sit up. Ivanov was just about to the helicopter when Oliver finally managed to get to his feet.

“Ivanov, stop!” Oliver yelled, causing the Bratva colonel to pause under the rapidly rotating blades.

Colonel Ivanov turned, seeing Oliver holding the weapon up, directed at him. A smile came over his face as he saw the color starting to drain from Oliver as a direct result of the gunshot wound in his shoulder that was bleeding profusely. He could see Oliver’s aim wavering as he tried to keep the weapon steady, but he knew it would only be a matter of time before the man lost consciousness.

“You can’t win, Jonas,” Ivanov yelled over the sound of the helicopter rotors. “Even with ARGUS, you can’t win.”

“I won’t let you hurt anyone else,” Oliver yelled as he tried to keep his eyes open. He couldn’t let this happen, not after everything he’d been through. He couldn’t get away now.

“There’s nothing you can do about it,” Ivanov countered. “You can barely even hold your weapon.”

As he spoke, Ivanov reached into his own holster and pulled out his weapon. He was tired of Jonas, but he couldn't just kill him. No, he had to suffer.

Oliver found he couldn’t hold up his own weight anymore as he dropped down to his knees, leaning heavily on his good arm and placing the weapon on the ground in front of him. He couldn’t focus. Shaking his head, he tried to clear it, but the blood loss was starting to take its toll. He barely noticed when Ivanov walked up to him, stopping just a few feet away as he held his weapon out, pointed directly at Oliver’s head.

“Your family will suffer because of your treachery,” he spat. “The woman you love… she will know pain like you’ve never felt.” Reaching out with the muzzle of his weapon, Ivanov lifted Oliver’s chin so he could look him in the eye. “And you will live knowing you caused it.”

Ivanov started to back away as a sneer came over his face and he started to laugh. Finding the energy to lift up his head, Oliver looked at Ivanov one more time as he turned and headed to the helicopter. He had to stop him. He couldn’t get away.

“NO!” Mustering all of the strength he had left, Oliver raised his weapon and fired, hitting Ivanov on the back of his leg before he had a chance to reach the waiting vehicle. Ivanov went to his knees wincing before turning to look back at Oliver. Raising his own weapon, he aimed at Oliver, but before he had a chance to pull the trigger, Oliver was pulling his, hitting his former boss right in the center of his forehead. The Russian fell limp to the ground as Oliver collapsed, having no further energy to be upright.

Oliver didn’t hear the door opening. He barely heard John’s voice as he called his name. When he felt pressure on his wounded shoulder, it sent a surge of adrenaline through his system as he winced and closed his eyes in pain.

“Hang in there, man,” John said as he continued to apply pressure. “Felicity will kill me if I let you die.”

Oliver managed to open his eyes as he looked around to see the area starting to fill up with ARGUS agents. Two were by the helicopter, restraining the pilot. When he looked back at John, there was only one question that he had.

“Felicity?”

“She’s safe,” John told him as Oliver closed his eyes in relief. He couldn’t fight the blackness any longer as he finally passed out.


	12. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's done! Time to live.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short little epilogue. I could have put this on the end of the previous chapter, but... nah! Thanks to everyone who read this, left comments, or gave kudos! It's been a blast!

Oliver had woken once when they had put him in the transport plane, but he wasn’t awake for long. All he remembered from the event was the warm hand gripping his and a familiar voice saying that she was going with him. He had felt her warm lips on his forehead and he had known everything was going to be fine.

The next time he had woken, he heard the soft beeping of a heart monitor machine. He squinted as he opened his eyes to the bright light of the room. Looking to his right, he could see the medical equipment setup next to the bed on which he was laying. There was a bag of blood attached to his arm, replenishing his supply of the life sustaining fluid. Turning to his left, he smiled when he saw the blond hair spread out over his arm. Felicity was asleep, laying on his arm with his hand tightly gripped in hers. When he began to move his hand, she quickly shot up with a startled look on her face.

“Whoa, it’s ok,” he said softly as he gently rubbed his thumb over her hand. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“You’re awake!” she exclaimed excitedly, looking around as if not knowing what she should do. She kept looking to him and then to the door as if trying to decide which direction she should go. Letting out a huff, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek before pulling away and quickly walking to the door of the room.

“He’s awake!” she said loudly before walking back over and gripping his hand again. In a matter of a few seconds, a man in a white coat holding a clipboard came into the room followed closely by John.

“Good morning, Mr. Queen,” the man in the coat said. “My name is Doctor Wilkinson. How are you feeling?”

“A little tired,” Oliver admitted. “A little sore.”

“That’s to be expected,” the doctor admitted. “You lost a lot of blood. Until we get your blood pressure back up, you can expect to be a bit tired.”

Oliver nodded slightly as he closed his eyes and sighed. A frown came over his face as he opened his eyes again. “Where am I?”

“An ARGUS hospital in Finland,” John supplied.

“And my family?” he asked anxiously.

“They’re being taken home,” John explained. “Some ARGUS agents will stay with them until we’re sure they’re safe, but with Ivanov gone, there shouldn’t be any more problems.”

“Thank you,” Oliver said sincerely.

John just smiled as he patted Oliver’s leg. “Just get better. You’ll be home with them in no time.”

As John turned to leave the room, the doctor made a few more notes on his clipboard before giving Oliver a smile. “Get some rest,” he instructed, looking between both Felicity and Oliver before turning and exiting the room.

“Well, you did it,” Felicity told him as she took a seat next to the bed and gave him a smile.

“I had some help,” Oliver admitted, squeezing her hand tightly.

“Not from me,” Felicity said sadly as she looked at their entwined hands. “I got myself into trouble and you had to come and save me. You risked your life when you should have just stayed in hiding. I’m sorry I put you in the position where you had to make that kind of choice.”

“Hey.” Oliver’s voice got her attention as she looked into his eyes. “He had you and he was going to hurt you,” he told her. “There was no choice to make.”

Felicity gave him a warm smile before letting out a sigh. “So, what now?”

Oliver just groaned as he tried to get more comfortable on the hospital bed. “Now I think I’m going to sleep,” he told her. “But when we get home… Would you like to have dinner with me?”

Felicity’s smile got even bigger as she leaned her elbow onto the bed and propped her head up on her hand. “You mean like a date?”

Oliver smiled as he felt his eyelids getting heavy. “Yes, like a date.”

“I’d love to.”

>>>\-------->

5 months later

Oliver awoke to the sound of the ocean. He was laying on his stomach on one of the softest beds he had ever slept on. As he slowly opened his eyes, he caught sight of one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. Felicity was standing out on the balcony wearing a very light pale pink nightgown that gracefully blew in the morning breeze. The early sunlight danced in her hair as she waved her arm around animatedly. He could hear her soft voice as she spoke to someone. He knew she must be on her phone.

Rolling onto his side, he just watched her for a moment as he remembered the last few days. They had been the most amazing days of his life. Looking down at the platinum band encircling his left ring finger, he let out a sigh as a smile came over his face. He was so glad they had decided to come back to Bali.

Looking out at the balcony again, Oliver saw that Felicity was no longer talking on her phone. She was standing against the railing, just letting the ocean breeze blow through her hair. Oliver found his breath catching in his throat as he looked at her. She looked… perfect.

Quietly getting out of bed, he walked over to the desk and picked up his camera before going back and sitting on the edge of the bed. Bringing the camera to his face, he quickly took a couple of shots before the sound of the shutter got Felicity’s attention. Giving him a smirk, she pushed the patio door open farther as she sauntered back into the room.

“Seriously?” she teased as she walked over to him.

“Couldn’t help it,” he told her as he put the camera on the nightstand and reached out to put his hands on her hips. “Something beautiful. Had to do it.”

“Uh huh,” she remarked with a small smile before putting her phone onto the table next to his camera. As she brought her hand back, Oliver smiled as the sun glistened off of her own rings, one of them matching his. Before she could reach him, he grabbed her hand and gently kissed it right over her rings before pulling her closer to him as she stood between his legs.

“Good morning, Mrs. Queen,” he said playfully as he pulled her down to him.

Felicity just smiled as she leaned against him and placed a kiss on his lips. “Good morning yourself.”

“Who were you talking to?” he asked as he rubbed his hands along the silky material of her nightgown.

Felicity just rolled her eyes as she moved from between his legs and climbed onto the bed. “My mother. The time difference has her all messed up. She doesn’t know when is a good time to call so I thought I’d save her the trouble. Otherwise, who knows what she’d interrupt.”

“Well, we definitely don’t want her to interrupt us,” Oliver agreed as he laid down on his back and just watched his new wife.

“You’d think she’d know better than to interrupt me on my honeymoon,” Felicity told him as she pulled off her nightgown and threw one leg across Oliver’s waist. “It can be very distracting.”

“It can indeed,” Oliver agreed as his hands landed on her hips and a smile spread across his face.

“And I don’t want anything distracting me from my husband,” she said softly as she ran her hands up his chest.

As she leaned closer to him, his hands slid up her back, pulling her to him. “And your husband whole heartedly agrees.”

Felicity just smiled as she leaned into him. “I thought he might.”

Closing the small distance between them, Oliver leaned up and captured her lips in a passionate kiss before pushing up farther and flipping them over. They were so caught up in each other, neither of them noticed when Oliver’s phone started to buzz. As the caller finally gave up, the screen fell back to its lock screen image. Oliver might not consider a phone to be a real camera, but the image his sister took on his phone would be one he would never complain about. It had just been taken a few days ago on a beach in Bali as they recited their vows, looking lovingly into each other’s eyes. In the end, a phone photo became his favorite, which was just fine with him.


End file.
